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AN ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY RECORD OF 


New UkE AND COUN TRY LORE 


EDITED BY 


JOEN Sie CANNING RON 


VOL. III—NEW SERIES 


LONDON: 
SIMPKIN MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & Co., LIMITED 
Tue Nassau PRESS © 


BERLIN: R. FRIEDLANDER & SOHN, CARLSTRASSE II 


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Our ANNUAL GREETING. 


(ANOTHER year has passed and another volume is complete— 

a volume containing many facts and thoughts which 
could have been ill-spared preservation, and some _ which 
will add to the progress of Knowledge. I trust it has 
given as much pleasure to our readers as to those who have 
produced and arranged the material from which it is constructed. 
To the Contributors and Artists, the Editor offers his sincere 
thanks for the support they have given in what has been to him, 
as to them, mainly a labour of love; and would take this 
opportunity of tendering them his congratulations on the good 
quality of most of their articles. He desires to express his 
obligations particularly to those who have conducted the 
departments of Astronomy and Science Abroad, and to others 
who have furnished valuable series of articles upon special 
subjects. 


JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 


1, NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, 
LONDON; 1897. 


CONTENTS. 


VOLUME I1IIl.—NEW SERIES. 


Adams, Lionel E., 17 
Adamson, Duncan, 184 
Atkinson, W. J., 25 


Ball, W. V., B.A., F.G.S., 333 

Barbour, John H., 184, 194, 255 

Barham, George, 129 

Bastin, A. H., 214, 268, 340 

Bechervaise, A. H., 43 

Beer, Rudolf, F.L.S., 25, 62, 173, 237 

Bell, Alfred, 283 

Boulger, Prof. G. S., F.L.S., F.G.S., 8 

Boycott, Arthur E., 114 

Briggs, C. A., 52, 81, 131, 314 

Briggs, H. Mead, 53, 110 bis, 137 bis, 138, 
165 

Britton, C. E., 132, 138 bis, 145 

Bryan, E. F. J., 233 

Bryan, G. H., Sc.D., F.R.S., 152, 175 

Buckell, Francis, 52 

Bulman, G. W., 255 

Burton, James, 5, 52, 138, 158, 226, 251, 
270, 278, 283, 303, 340 


Cameron, A. C.G, 315 

Carpenter, J. H., 13 

Carr, Cyril, 130 

Carrington, John T., 1, 18, 35, 41, 45, 65, 
74, 82 bis, 97, 102, 104, 122, 131, 132, 137, 
I4I, I61, 190, 212, 220, 247, 249, 255, 272, 
279, 289, 308, 334 

Chatfey, W. J., 20 

Climenson, Mrs. Emily J., 44, 73, 159, 216, 


305 

Cockerell, Theo. D. A., 137, 199, 239, 252, 
302 

Cole, Martin, 132 

Cooke, J. H., 25 

Cooper, J. E., 144, 147 

Cordeaux, John, M.B.O.U., 171 

Crowther-Beynon, V. B., 25 


Deakin, Rev. K. A., 43, 165 

Dennett, Frank C., 21, 49, 79, 99, 107, 135, 
163, 193, 223, 253, 281, 311, 319, 337 

Dixon, H. M., 310 

Du Buisson, E. W., 109 


Edwards, T., 282 
Ekholm, Dr. N., 8&5 
Enock, Fred, F.L.S., F.E.S., 13, 41, 68 


Alder, 94 
Alga, Freshwater, 145 
Amphipeplea glutinosa, 308 
Arion hortensis, 308 
Armature of Helicoid Landshells : 
Covtlla, Relationship of, 128 
* anax, 126 
34 beddomeae, type, 127 
a var., 127 

wf charpenttert, 88 
s », _ Var. hinidunensis, 127 
iy erronea, 89, 90 
a o var. evvonella, 127 
»  fryae, 89 
immature, 90 


” ” 


CONTRIBUTORS. 


Fish, David S., 72, 215, 263 
Ford-Lindsay, H. W., 110 
Friend, Rev. Hilderic, 10, 86 


George, C. F., 153, 264 

Gibbings, C. M., 82 

Godfrey, Robert, 119, 160, 176, 217, 241, 
294, 325 

Griset, H. E., 61, 100, 210, 252 

Gude, G. K., F.Z.S., 23, 51, 57, 69, 80, 88, 
106, 126, 136, 154, 162, 178, 192, 204, 245, 
274, 300, 332 


Halfpenny, F. W., 225, 315 

Hall, Thos. W., 109 

Harris, George T., 24, 165, 222, 282 
Henley, A., 341 

Hick, Rev. J. M., 25 

Howarth, Samuel, 236 

Howkins, F. E., 53 

Hyndman, H. H. F., B.Sc., 96, 124 


Jackson, A. B., 144 
Johnson, Alfred J., 109 


Kane, W. F. de V., 34 
Keegan, Dr. P. Q., 165, 211, 222, 283, 284 
Kennard, A. S., 12, 118, 341 


Lett, Rev. H. W., M.A., M.R.1.A., 24 bis, 
29, 52 bts, 67 

Lloyd, J. A., 255 

Lones, T. E., M.A., LL.D., 322 

Loydell, A., 165 


Mapleton, Rev. H. M., 109 

Marrat, F. P., 120 

Marris, William H., 82 

Marten, Chas. J., 255 bis 

Martin, Edward A., 25 bis, 54, 138, 149, 
194, 225, 252, 253, 276 

Maslen, Arthur J., 142, 182, 234 

McIntire, N. E., 92 

Midgley, Thos., 109, 110 bis 

Moffat, C. B., 82 

Mott, F. T., F.R.G.S., 157 


a 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Armature of Helicoid Landshells—Cont. 


Corilla humbertt, 92 
PP odontophora, 91 
a rivolii, gt 
> ,, immature, 91 
Plectopylis affinis, 276 
a andersont, 154 
a brachydiscus, 154 
5 brachy plecta, 246 
- clathratula, 300 
3 clathratuloides, 332 
a cutisculpta, 181 
7 cyclaspis, 244 
3 dextrosa, 156 
» jfimbriosa, 179 


Nicholson, C., 20 

Nicholson, Wm. Ed., 265, 292 
Nunney, W. H., 9, 82 
Nuttall, G. C., B.Sc., 39 


Ord, W. E., B.A., 202 


Parritt. H. W., 314 

Perks, F. P., 24 

Piffard, Bernard, 225 

Purchas, Rev. W. H., 14, 42, 70, 94, 159, 
185 


Ransom, Edwd., 314 

Rice, David J., 201 

Roberts, L. Amb., 165 

Rousselet, Chas. F., F.R.M.S., 189 
Rowley, F. R., 194 


Saunders, G. S., 24, 252 
Searell, R. Trist, 132 

Sewell, S. Arthur, 125, 194 
Sheppard, T., 282 

Sich, Frank, 52, 137 

Smith, Rev. Adam C., 32 
Soar, Chas. D., 169 

Stokes, Dr. Alfred C., 121, 148 
Stone, E. M., 314 

Swann, H. Kirke, 301 


Tatham, John, M.D., 255 
Taylor, P., 113 

Teesdale, Martin J., 52, 226, 229 
Thompson, William, 340 
Turner, Edwin E., 248, 269 
Turner, G. C., 49 


Vogan, A. J., 194 


Ward, H. Snowden, 341 

Warrand, W., Major-Gen. R.E., 60, 109 
Webb, J. C., F.E.S., 48, 95 

Wheeler, E., 109, 110 bis 

Wheldon, J. A., 117 

Wilson, W., 24, 52 

Williamson, R., 323 

Winckworth, Catherine A., 138, 314, 315 
Winstone, Benj., M.D., 314 

Winstone, Flora, 251, 252, 313 


Armature of Helicoid Landshells—Cont. 
Plectopylis fultoni, 179 
a invia, 181 
_ kavenorum, 245 
s lamunifera, 205 
= laomontana, 245 
i multispira, 181 
7 nagaensis, 206 
” perarcta, 155 
at pmacis, 206 
si plectostoma, 274 
4 » var. tricarinata, 275 
“A ponsonbyt, 178 
ne pulvinaris, 180 
ae retifeva, 301 


Armature of Helicoid Landshells—Cont. 
Plectopylis servica, 205 
5 shirotensts, 155 
9% smithiana, 274 
* stenochila, 204 
Arvenurus bruzeltt, 264 
Arrenurus crassipetiolatus, 264 
Artesian Well, Geological Formation of, 


333 


Batrachospermum, 145 

Bavarian Forest, Scene in, 289 
Beech Branch, Flowering State, 14 
Beech Branch, Ramification of, 15 
Beech Branch, Winter State, 16 
Birch, Spring State, 43 

Birch, Summer State, 42 


Calophasia platy ptera, 141 
Clostevium, Subdivision of, tor 
Corilla, Diagram of Relationship, 128 
Convolvulus, Leaf variations, 210 


Dactylopius lichtenstoides, 199 
Desmids, Straining-Net for, 323 
Pipette, 324 
», . Test-tube Stand for, 324 
on Test-tube Table for Microscope, 


324 
Dragon-Fly, Nymph Tail-Fans, 9 


Eclipse of Sun, Total, 319, 320, 321 
Epichloe typhina, 291 


Ficus cavica, Leaf variations, 210 
Flat-Fish, Transformation of, 335 
Flea-Egg and Larva, 95 

Flounder, Transformation of, 334 
“Fram ’’ Imprisoned in Ice, 259 
Freshwater Mites, New British, 264 
Fungus, Abnormal (Russula), 207 


Grass-Snake, X Rays Photo of, 279 
Grass, White Circles on, 291 


AGA, A FRESHWATER, 145 
Algz, Microscopic, 270, 303 
Angler-Fish, 325 
Aquatic Hymenoptera, 13, 41, 48, 68 
Armature of Helicoid Landshells, 88, 126, 
154, 178, 204, 244, 274, 300, 332 
Arrenurus bruzelit, 264 
Arrenurus crassipetiolatus, 264 
ASTRONOMY, 21, 49, 79, 107, 135, 163, 193, 
223, 253, 281, 321, 337 
Almanack, Amateur Observer's, 253 
American Universities, 50 
Atlas, New Lunar, 21 
Aurora, 49 
Comet, 21, 163, 223, 253 
Comet, Brooks’, 79, 107, 135 
Comet, Star Eclipsed by, 79 
Comet, Swift's, 21, 49 
Double Star, New, 163 
Eclipse, Lunar, 79, 107 
Eclipse, Sun, 79, 107 bis 
Eclipse, Total, Sun, 135 
Jupiter, Occultation, 79 
Jupiter, Rotation Period, 311 
Jupiter, Satellites, 3rz 
Jupiter’s Belts, 337 
Lick Observatory, 134 
Lunar Object, 107, 135 
Mars, Opposition, 253, 337 
Meteor, April 12th, 21, 49, 107 
Meteor, Brilliant, 311 
Meteor, November 2gth, 255, 281 
Metecr, September 12th, 134 
Meteorite near Namur, 50 
Meteors, 21, 49, 79, 107, 163, 193, 223, 
281, 311 
Nebula, Great, in Orion, 337 


CONTENTS. 


Guelder Rose, 87 
Guelder Rose, Abnormal, 87 
Guillemots and Razorbill, 76 


Hare Drive, 46 

Hare, English, 47 

Hawfinch, 191 

Hawk, Kestrel (Taxidermy), 19 
Hawkbit, Fasciated, 113 

Helix aspersa, Teeth of, 75 
Heron, Claw of, 190 

Hippobosca equina, 18 
Hippobosca equina, Claws, 18 
Holly, Abnormal, 269 
Hornbeam, Witches’ Broom, 290 
Horse Chestnut, 150 

Horse Chestnut, Autumn State, 151 


Leaf-blade, Variations of, 61, 62, 117, 210 
Lime, common, 71 
Lime, small-leaved, 70 


Manna, Coccus manniparus, 232 

Manna, Edible Lichen, 22 

Manna, Lecanora affints, 229 

Manna, Lecanora esculenta, 229 

Manna, Lecanova fruticulosa, 229 

Manna, Lecanora tartarea, 229 

Manna, Tamarix gallica, 230, 231 

Mealy-Bug, New, 19 

Mollusc, New British, 147 

Moth, Lesser Shark, 141 

Mourne Mountains (Map), 31 

Mourne Mountains, Newcastle 
Down), 29 

Movable Meteorological Station, 260 


(Co. 


Nightjar, Claw of, 190 


Oak, Quercus pedunculata, Flowering, 187 
Oak, Q. pedunculata, Fruiting State, 185 
Oak, Q. pedunculata, Summer State, 185 
Oak, Q. sessiliflora, 186 


Orchis maculata, Variations of, 175 
Oyster Killing Mice, 82 


AKDIGIEES, | NOGES, “iG: 


ASTRONOMY—Continued: 
Observations, Remarkable, 135 
Observatory, New London, 337 
Paris Observatory, Director, 223 
Paris Observatory, Sub-Director, 280 
Personal Equation, 21 
Planetoids, 21 
Planets, Minor, Discovery, 281 
Procyon, 223 
Saturn’s Rings, 49, 99, 163 
Sirius, 223 
Sun Spots, 193, 253, 281 
Sunspots and Weather, 338 
Sun’s Surface, Study, 193 
Telescopes, Driving Cleck, 79 
Variable Stars, 49, 79, 107, 135, 163, 193, 

223, 253, 281, 311, 337 
Venus, Rotation, 281 
Yerkes Observatory, 223 
Zodiacal Light, 107 

Auk, Great, Eggs of, 341 

Auk, Little, in Scotland, 326 


Batrachospermum, 145 

Bats and Music, 212 

Biological Jottings, 173, 237 

Biological Station, Essex, 144 

Bird Life on Lowland Loch, 160 

Birds, Migration of, 277, 296, 329 

Birds, Sailing Flight of, 152 

Birds, storm-killed, 326 

Bog Slide in Kerry, 248 

Books To READ, 18, 45, 74, 104, 132, 161, 

190, 220, 249, 279, 308, 334 

Affinities of Atoms, 75 
Anti-Vaccination, 77 


Parasite of Tortoise, 23 
Petrel, Stormy. 77 
Petricola pholadtformis, 147 
Physa fontinalis, 308 
Polychaeta, Heads of, 220 


Rotifer, Brachionus bakeri, 121 


Sabellaria alveolata, 221 
Saturn's Rings, 99 
Scabiosa arvensis, Abnormal, 248 
Science at National Portrait Gallery :— 
Banks, Sir Joseph, K.B., 3 
Bewick, Thomas, 4 
Brewster, Sir David, 65 
Canton, John, F.R.S., 66 
Darwin, Charles, 1 
Darwin, Erasmus, 97 
Faraday, Michael, 3 
Goldstnith, Oliver, 98 
Herschel, Sir William, 37 
Jenner, Dr. Edward, 37 
Owen, Sir Richard, 35 
Richardson, Sir John, 38 
Sea-Urchin, Full-grown Larva, 105 
Shells First Time Figured :— 
Corasia laurae, 57 
Endodonta fusca, 59 
Endodonta quadrast, 58 
Ganesella apex, 58 
Ganesella apex, v. apiculata, 58 
Ganesella catocyrta, 57 
Pyrvamidula omalisma, 59 
Trochomorpha boettgert, 59 
Spider, Tarantula, 1o4 
Sunspots, Great Group of, 193 


Vitrina pellucida, 308 


Wallflower, Abnormal, 269 
Water-Mites, 169 
Witches’ Broom, 290 


Booxs To ReEap—Continued. 
Applied Nature, Investigations, 309 
Arboricultural Society, 48 
Biological Experimentation, 45 
Birds, British Sea, 76 
Birds, Handbook, British, 77 
Birds, Handbook, Great Britain, 20 
Birds, Newton’s Dictionary, 250 
Botany, Elementary, 251 
Cambridge Natural History, 220 
Chemistry, Elementary, 250 
Diagramettes for Students’ Sketches, 

221 

Diseases of Plants, Fungoid, 290 
Domestic Animals, Insects Affecting, 


30 
Barheaomlblees 48 
Evoluticn of Bird Song, 74 
Fishes, Natural History of Marine, 
Cunningham's, 334 
Flora, Dumfriesshire, 75 
Flora of Alps, 335 
Fuel and Refractory Materials, 250 
Game Birds, Handbook, 250 
Game Birds and Wild Fowl (British) 
336 
3 
Geology, Elementary, 190 
Geology, Student's Lyell, 20 
Gleanings, Natural History, 
Ancients, 22 
Green Leaf and Sere, 190 
Injurious Insects, Report on, 15 
Insects and Spiders, 133 
Hare, The, 46 aa 
Hemiptera~-Homoptera, British Islands, 


from 


309 
Honey-Bee, The, 48 


vi 


Booxs To Rear—contsnued 

Land and Freshwater Mollusca (Tay- 
lor’s Monograph), 75, 308 

Land and Freshwater Shells, Col- 
lector’s Manual, British, 104 

Leicester Literary, Philosophical 
Society, 310 

Lepidoptera, Handbook, 45 

Lepidoptera, Handbook to Order, 279 

Lepidoptera of British Islands, 249 

Life in Ponds and Streams, 249 

Liverpool, Handbook, 133 

Liverpool Marine Biology Committee, 


Modical Guide, Everybody’s, 251 
Minerals, Dictionary, 45 

Minerals, Tasmanian, 249 

Missouri Botanical Gardens, 133 
Mosses, Analytic Keys, American, 280, 


309 
Mosses, Label-list of British, 338 
Mosses, Students’ Handbook, British, 


104 

Nansen’s, Farthest North, 259 

Natural History in Shakespeare’s 
Time, 335 : 

New Thoughts on Current Subjects, 


308 
Optical Instruments, 76 
Perspective, Theory, 190 
Photogram, The, 133 
Photographer’s Exposure Book, 251 
Photography, Bichromates, 161 
Photography, Exterior and Interior, 221 
Photography, Stenopaic, 16: 
Physical Science, Studies, 279 
Physiology, Handbook, 161 
Plants, Manitoba, 132 
Ros Rosarum ex horto Poetarum, 74 
Round the Year, 190 
Royal Natural History, 18, 105 
Scenery, Switzerland, 74 
Seedlings, Contribution to Knowledge, 


18 
Shertchley’s Physical Geography, 75 
Smithsonian Institution Report, 336 
Some Unrecognized Laws of Nature, 


336 
Sonth London Natural History Society, 
753 330 
Story of Chemical Elements, 221 
Story of Electricity, 77 
Story of Forest and Stream, 251 
Structural Botany, Introduction, 249 
Tourists’ Guide, Continent, 133 
Taxidermy, Artistic and Scientific, 19 
Természetrajzi Fuzetch, 310 
Thousand Difficult Words, 45 
Vaccination, Cost of, 77 
Wayside and Woodland Blossoms, 133 
Wild-bird Protection and Nesting- 
boxes, 338 
Worms, Rotifers and Polyzoa, 220 
X Rays, The, 133 
Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, 226 
Zoology, Text Book (Boas), 74 
Botanical Jottings, 86 
Botanical Teaching, 307 
Botany NOTES, 24, 52, 110, 138, 252, 284, 
310 
Annularia levis, 110 
Atriplex, Fasciated, 144 
Auracaria, Fruiting, 24, 110 
Botanical Opportunity, 252 
Botanical Society, Bolton, r1ro 
Botany at Folkestone Museum, 338 
Centaury, White, var., 24 
Cotyledon, Abnormal, 52 
Cyathus vernicosus, Ireland, 52 
Feverfew, Abnormal, 52 
Fungus, Abnormal, Russula, 252 
Fungus, New, r10 
Grasses, British, 310 
Gyromitra esculenta, 24 
Hazel-Flower, Abnormal, 310 
Heracleum, Economic use, 310 
Holly, Abnormal, 269 
Lepidium ruderata, Berks, 144 
Lilac, Abnormal, 52 
Limosella aquatica, Clare, 252 
Moss Exchange Club, 224 
Nitella, in Aquarium, 226 
Orchidacez, Alkaloids in, 252 
Orchide, Age of, 252 
Plants, Abnormal, 110 
Plants on Disturbed Soil, 138 


CONTENTS. 


Botrany—continued 
Plants, Epping Forest, 138 
Plants, Popular names, British, 219 
Primrose, Abnormal, 52 
Primrose, Early, Aberdeen, 52 
Pyrus japonica, Fruiting, 52, 138 
Scabious Abno , 248 
Tree Branches, atrophy, 24 bts 
Vegetable Physiology, Prussic Acid, 


24 
Wallflower, Abnormal, 269 
Wintergreen, Chickweed, 24 
Yucca, Seeds in Europe, 255 
Briggs Collection, to2 
British Association, Isle of Man, 103 
British Association at Liverpool, 103 
British Collections, Kensington, 11 


Calophasta platyptera, 131, 141 
Camera, New “ Frena,” 102 
Canary Islands, New Butterflies, 43 
Channel Islands, Lepidoptera, 214, 268 
Chapters for Young Naturalists, 62, 130 
Characteristic Branching of Forest 
Trees, 14, 42, 70, 94, 150, 185 
Chemistry of Paper, 96 
Climateric in Evolution, 157 
Clostevium, Subdivision, 100 
Coccide, 239, 302 
Coccide Associated with Ants, 239 
Cold and Hunger, 124 
Commensalism and Symbiosis, 5 
Corasta laurvae, 57 
Cortila, Armature of, 88, 126 
Cozvtlla, Key to Species, 128 
Covilla, New Species of, 88 
Correspondence, 56, 140, 168, 258, 318 
Country LoRE, 340 
Australian Wool, 340 
Coming of Spring, 340 
Nightingales, 340 
Spirza japonica, 340 
Cress, Smooth Tower, 87 


Dactylopius, 199 

Dactylopius, European, 200 
Dactyloptus lichtensiotdes, 199 
Dactylopius nipe@, 200 
Dactylopius psendonipaZ, 302 
Daphnia and Rotifers, 60, 109 
Death’s Head Moths, 116 
Decimal Classification, Literature, 208 
Desmids, Collecting, 323 
Diatoms, Generic Names of, 32 
Dipper, The, 294 

Dissecting Extraordinary, 209 
Dormice, Habits of, 20: 
Dragon-Fly Gossip, 9 


East ANGLIA, RAMBLE IN, 72 

Eclipse, Total Solar, 319 

Eider Duck, 176 ~ 

Erne, In Quest of, 119 

Erosion in Mollusca, 114 

Exchanges, 28, 56, 84, 112, 140, 168, 198, 
228. 258, 288, 318, 344 


FEATHERED VERMIN, PENTLANDS, 241 

Field Meetings, 8 

Five-banded Land Shells, British List, 
69, 137 

Flea, Common, 95 

Flora of Arctic Norway, 171 

Fungoid Plant Diseases, 289 

Fungus Growth, Abnormal, 207 

Freshwater Mites, New British, 264 

Freshwater Mites of Folkestone, 169 

Fruits, British, 215 


GeEoLocicaL Fretp Crass, 328 
GroLocy NOTES, 26 54 
Geological Photographs Committee, 
54 
Geological Sections, 54 
Geological Society Medals, 280 
Geology at Belfast,26 - 
Oldhaven Beds, 276 
Thanet Sands, 54 
Green Scum on Water, 158 
Guelder Rose, 86 


HAWKBIT, ABNORMAL, I13 

Helicidaz, Some Unfigured, 57 

Helix pomatia, New Locality, 22 
Hepatics, Mourne Mountains, 29, 67 
Herons, Effect of Fear on, 34, 109 

Hints to Collectors, 233 

Home Naturalist’s Notes, 44, 73, 159, 216, 


305 
Household Insects, 17 
Hymenoptera, Aquatic, 13, 41, 48 


INTRODUCTION MOoLLusca 


BRITAIN, 12 


OF INTO 


LABORATORY, DAvy-FARADAY, 203 
Leaf Variation, 61, 117, 165, 210, 273, 284 


MANGANESE ORES IN HERTFORDSHIRE, 
322 
Manganese Ores in Wales, 92 
Manna of Israelites, 229 
Mealy-bugs, 199 
Mealy-bug, new, 199, 302 
Meteorological Exhibition, 307 
Microscopic Algz, 270 
Microscopy NoTES, 20, 48, 138, 222, 251 
Acacia as Micro-object, 251 
Asperococcus compressus, 132 
Copepoda, Parasitic, 48 
Hydra, preparing for Micros., 222 
Hydra, What becomes of, 20 
Hygroscopic Hairs, 132 
Microscopic Slides, 226 
Microscopy, 132 
Microscopy Popular, 132 
Mounting Mediums, 48, 132, 222 
Preservation of Specimens, 251 
Quekett Micros. Club, 48 
Seaweed, New, 132 
Mollusc, New British, 147 
Mollusca, Erosion, 114 
Mollusca, Introduction into Britain, 12 
Molise. Varietal names, Fresh-water, 


2 

Monaco, Prince of, Marine Researches, 
219 

Mosses, Mourne Mountains, 29, 67 

Mosses, Norway, 265, 292 

Moth, new, British, 131, 141 


NATURE NOTES, RIVIERA, 247, 272 
Nomenclature, Confusion in, 282 
North Pole, Summer at, 85 
Norway, Arctic Flora, 171 
Nostochacez, 158 
NOTES AND QUERIES, 25, 52, 81, 109, 137, 
165, 194, 225, 255, 282, 341 
Africa, Expedition to Central, 26: 
Argynnis adippe, v. chlorodippe, 314 
Argynnts niobe, 138, 314 
Asparagus, Abnormal, 82 
Auk, Little, Sussex, 25 
Bacteria in Coal, 255 
Bat, Daylight Flight of, 327 
Bees, Inebiiety of, 282 
Birds, Effect of fear on, tog 
Birds, Paternai affection, 225, 255 
Birds, Reproduction lost limbs, 225, 315 
Bitterns in Horsham, 252 
Cleat, Derivation of, 165, 225, 314 
Coal, Where not to find, 25 
Cocoanut Germination, 52 
Correspondence, Wanted, 194 
Cuckoo’s Egg, tog 
Darwin and Heredity, 283 
Death’s-heaa Moth, Larve, tog 
Dragon-Flies, Rearing, 341 
Dragon-Fly Larve, Ferocity, 82 
Duck Killing Birds, 120 
Eel, Larve of, 314 
Eggs, Cleaning hard-set, tog 
Elephus Africants, 25 
Experimental Farms, 302 
Fern, Fossil, Giant’s Causeway, 104, 
225, 255, 282 
Fly, Rare, 53 
Focus Tube, New, 194 
Fungus, Big, 225 
Goldfish, Abnormal, 138 
Great Auk’s Egg, Sale of, 341 


NOTES AND QuERIES—continued 
Gull, Wedge-tailed, Breeding, 284 
Hawk-Moth, Larve, 137 
Helix pomatia, Roosting, 82 
Helix pomatia in Essex, 22 
Human Remains, Prehistoric, 25 
Iron Embedded in Ivory, 226 
Kingfisher, Choked, 255 
Kingaehen in Yorkshire, 248 
Lark, Nesting Site, 53 
Leeches, Interesting, 20, 184 
Lepidoptera, Hastings, 110 
Lepidoptera, New Forest, 315 
Lepidoptera, Norway, 25 
Lepidoptera, Protection of, 310 
Localities, Publication of, 194, 225 
Marine Natural History, 255, 278 
Marine Zoology at Cromer, 314 
Mollusca, Additional British, 295 
Mollusca, Value of, 314 
Mollusca in Kent, List of, 341 
Nightjars Hawking by Day, 138 
Otters in Buckingham, 137 
Oyster Killing Mice, 82 
Pied-Wagtail in Winter, 25 
Plusia moneta, Food, 109 
Plusia moneta, Surrey, 81 
Rooks Swallowing Fir-cones, 52, 81, 
281 
Scalariforme Shells, 82 
Seaweed, New British, 132 
Sedge-Warblers, Nesting, 110 
Shadows, Tinted, 314 
Strvex juvencus, 165 


CONTENTS. 


Petrel, Fulmar, in E. Lothian, 326 
Petricola pholadiformus, 147 
Phcenology in Ireland, 184 
Plant Diseases, Fungoid, 289 
Plant Life, 62 

Plants, Abnormal, 269 

Plants, Distribution of, 87 
Plants, Extinction of, 263 
Plants, Naturalization of, 263 
Plants in Norway, 265, 292 
Precious Stones, Artificial, 202 


‘Princess Alice,”’ Marine Researches, 219 


Pulex trvitans, 95 

Rhyncholophus plumipes, 153 

Ring Ousel, 217 

Riviera, Nature Notes in, 247, 272 
Rotifera, Byrachionus bakert, 121 
Rotifera, Copeus quinquelobatus, 122 


Rotifera, Structural Features in Ameri- 


Can, 121, 148, 189 


SATURN’s RinG System, 99 
Saury-pike, Abundance of, 325 
Scale Insects, 239 


SCIENCE ABROAD, 23, 51, 80, 106, 136, 162, 


£92, 313, 339 
Academy Natural Sciences, 162 
Album der Nat., Haarlem, 136 
Annaes de Sciencias Naturaes, 51, 106 
Annali del Museo Genova, 80, 106 


Specimens, Value of, 314 

Swallow in February, 314 
Swallows, Late, 194 

Swift, Late, 137 

Telegony, reputed, 252 

Thecla pruni, Herefordshire, 165 
Thrush, Early Nesting, 314 

Tales of my Tusks, 82 

Vanessa antiopa, Scotland, 164, 194 
Vanessa antiopa, Skye, 165 
Vegetable Marrow, Abnormal, 131 
Vipers in Damp Places, 110 
Warbler, Pallas’ Willow, 284 
Waterproof Cement, 109 

Whale at Boscombe, 243 
Whirlwind, Isle of Wight, 137 

Yew Trees, Age of, 314 

Zoological Gardens, Some National, 341 


OBITUARY— 
Almer, the Guide, 224 
Chappell, Joseph, 312 
Cooper, J. A., 22 
Cope, Edward Drinker, 338 
Dollen, G. W., 338 
Elger, Thos. Gwyn, 281 
Findlay, Bruce, 53 
Gatke, Heinrich, 301 
Gould, Dr. B. Apthorp, 223 
Gylden, Hugo, 218 
Hale, Horatio, 254 
Hick, Thomas, B.A., B.Sc., 108 
Hodgkinson, J. B., 312 
Inchbald, Peter, 53 
Kriger, Dr. Adalbert, 50 


Annalen des Nat. Hofmuseums, 51, 106 

Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia ed 
Anatomia Turin, 192 

Botany Bulletin, Queensland, 106 

Catalogue, 1897, Vienna Cryptogamic 
Exchange, 339 

Das Tierreiche, 23 

Economic Entomologists of U.S., 313 

Feuille des Jeunes Nat., 51 bis, 136, 
192, 313, 339 

Linnéenne Revue, 192 

Linnéenne Society, Bruxelles, 339 

Naturaleza, La, 313, 339 

Soc. Zoologique, Bulletin, 51, 80, 162, 
313 339 


Science a Monopoly, 213, 327 
Science at National Portrait Gallery, 1, 


35, 65, 97 
Banks, Sir Joseph, 3 
Bewick, Thomas, 4 
Brewster, Sir David, 65 
Canton, John, 66 . 
Darwin, Charles R., 2 
Darwin, Erasmus, 97 
Goldsmith, Oliver, 98 
Grimaldi, Joseph, 66 
Faraday, Michael, 2 
Herschel, Sir William, 36 
Jenner, Dr. Edward, 37 
Owen, Sir Richard, 35 
Richardson, Sir John, 38 


Science at Nottingham, 93 
ScIENCE-GOSSIP, 22, 50, 78, 108, 134, 164, 


195) 224, 254, 280, 312, 338 
Acetylene, Use, 224 
American Assoc., 134 


Lembert, John B., 108 

Ley, W. Clement, 22 

Lilford, Lord, 53 

Moller, Dr. Axel, 253 
Newton, Dr. Hubert A., 135 
Nobel, Alfred, 224, 254 
Palmieri, Luigi, 134 
Prestwich, Sir Joseph, 50, 81 
Raymond, Dr. E. H. Bu Bois, 254 
Richardson, Sir B. Ward, 188 
Slack, Henry James, 108 
Tisserand, Francois F., 193 
Wells, Sir Spencer, 280 
Weyer, Dr. G. D. E., 281 


Antarctic Meteorological Station, 280 
Auk, Great, Egg of, 22 

Aurora Display, Kirkwall, 254 

Azeca elongata, 312 

Bees Killed by Tomtits, 254 

Bird of Paradise, New, 254 

Birds, Society for Protection of, 312 
Biological Station, Marine, 22 
Biological Station for New Mexico, 22 
Botanical Research Laboratory, 280 
Brigg’s Collection, 78 

Bristol Naturalists’ Society, 164 
British Assoc., Liverpool, 78, 107, 134 
Bryozoa, Chatham Chalk. 312 


Wilson, William, 195 
Oranges, Abnormal, 307, 341 
Orchts maculata, Variations, 175, 225 
Owl's Pellets, wanted, 17 


PALZONTOLOGY, RISE OF, 142, 182, 234 
Pavarge egeria, Hibernation, 13 
Parasites of Tortoise, 236 

Parasites of Plants, 237 

Parasites, Fungoid, of Plants, 289 
Pearly Nautilus, Eggs of, 271 


Butterflies. Camberwell Beauty, 166 

Cyanide, Illegal Sale, 108 

Conchological Society, 164 

Colour Blindness, 78 

Clouds, Heights and Velocities, 254 

Eagle, Golden, Yorkshire, 254 

Economic Entomology, 78 

Electric Light, Affecting Growth of 
Plants, 224 

Elephants, Protection of, 164 

Egret, Plumes in Millinery, 78 

Essex, Technical Laboratories, 312 


Vil 


SciencEe-Gossip—Continued. 
Fish, West African, 312 
Fern Extermination, 50 
Field Columbian Museum, 134 
Flying, Science of, 134 
Folkestone Museum, Herbarium at, 338 
Fossils, Prestwich Collection, 254 
Foyers, Falls of, 50 
Fungi, Deaths from Eating, 134 
Fulham Science Society, 195, 224 
Giant's Causeway, Enclosure, 78 
Gilbert White, Bibliography, 195 
Geologists’ Assoc., London, 50 
Geology, London Field Class, 22 
Heat Apoplexy, 108 
Henley-on-Thames, Guide, 146 
Injurious Insects at Agricultural Show, 


22 
Kelvin, Lord, Jubilee, 50 
Kingfishers in Jondon, 254 
Kites and Meteorological Observation, 


33 
Lepidoptera, Protection of, 254 
Leucanta untpuncta in Ireland, 338 
Liverpool Geological Society, 108 
Liverpool Marine Biology Committee, 
254 
London Museums, Sunday Opening, 22 
Marine Biological Association, 22, 338 
Marine Biological Station, 134 
Mollusca, Artificial Dispersion of, 108 
Mollusca, Land, Antrim, 312 
Mollusc, New British Land, 312 
Mongoose in Jamaica, 254 
Moth, New British Plume, 280 
Natural History Exhibition, 312 
Natural History Museum, Visitors, 78 
Natural History, Popularising in 
France, 312 
Naturalists’ Union, South-Eastern, 338 
Naturalists’ Union, Yorkshire, 134 
Newspaper Natural History, 78, 280, 


312 

Observatory, Bidston Hill, 78 

Octopus, Large, 254 

“ Ornithologist,”’ The, 22 

Pasteur Institute, 280 

Pear-Tree, Oldest Known, 224 

Photography in Colours, 280 

Physical Laboratory, Proposed 
National, 280 

Pigeons, Protective Colour, 254 

Plague Virus, 280 

Polar Exploration, 108 

Prestwich, Sir J., Biography, 280 

Pyralid, A Leat-mining, 313 

Rabies in London, 50 

Rontgen Rays, Investigation Grant, 254 

Royal Botanic Society, 50 

Royal Institution Lectures, 195, 224 

Sulphur in Relation to Crops, 312 

Sunshine in Guernsey, 78 

“Talisman” Expedition, Material of, 
224 

Technical Instruction in Beds., 78 

Thrushes, New Work on, 78 

Tomtits Attacking Bees, 254 

University Extension, 22 

Wicken Fen, for sale, 22 

Zoology, International Congress of, 312 

Shells, Five-Banded, List, 69, 137 

Societies, Notices of Meetings, 198, 228, 

258, 288, 318, 344 

Starfishes opening Oysters, 131 

Stone-cutting in Borrowdale, 211 

Study of Aquatic Worms, ro 


TEAL, NESTING, WORCESTER, 43 

Thanet Sands, 129, 149 

Tide-Waifs on Forth Shores, 325 

Tortoise Parasite, 236, 282, 283 

TRANSACTIONS, 27, 54, 83, III, 139, 166, 
195, 226, 256, 285, 315, 342 

Cambridge Entomological and Natural 
History Society, 286, 317 

City of London Natural History 
Society, 139, 166, 195, 227, 285, 342 

Conchological Society, 228 

Glasgow Natural History Society, 198 

Greenock Natural History Society, 228 

Greenwich Natural History Society, 
28 

Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists’ 
Club, 257, 287, 317, 343 


Vili CONTENTS. 


CTIONS—conmiinued 


Lambeth Field Club, 168 


, 139, 166, 196, 226, 256, 285, 316. 


68 ovih London Entomological and 
Norfolk and Norwich Natural History Natural History Society, 27, 55, 83, 
Society, 54, 15 6 16. 3 


North London N 
£40, 166, 1906, 227, 256, 286, Soci 


= et he YL Rh ed 
Scarborough Field Naturalisis’ Society. 
257 


Selborne Society, 81 


VALUE OF VaRIATION, 122 


WAaATER-wITES OF FOLKESTONE, 169 
tory Society, Wellington College Natural Science Wiehe tere ey 
ty.50 7 = a 

Sree og Woodpigeon, Food of, 20 
Tree, Fire-proof, 30 Worms, Aquatic, Smdy of, 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


SCIENCE AT THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY. 


IN/OME that the collection of pictures of nota- 

bilities deemed worthy to represent the 
foremost people who have made the name of 
respected 


Britain 
gathered to- 
gether in their 


new building, 
we see how 
small is the 
representa- 
tion of Sci- 
ence in the 
National Por- 
trait Gallery. 
In all there 
appear to be 
no more than 
- thirty repre- 
sentatives out 
of 1,036 por- 
traits. This 
may to some 
extent be ac- 
counted for 
by the fact 
that until re- 
cently these 
pictures have 
had no settled 
home, conse- 
quently few 
people knew 
whose por- 
traits were 
there and 
whose were 
absent among 
scientific wor- 
thies. It is to 
be hoped that 
before the al- 
ready well- 


filled walls become more crowded, other and eminent 
investigators may have their portraits placed where 
they may be readily seen and venerated. There 


By Joun T. CARRINGTON. 


throughout the world are 


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fe N 


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> mya )) 

‘ wi 
A) 


ea 
\) 
==> 
S 
Zl 
re 
a 
——F 
= 


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S 
SSS 
= —S 

- Ss 


CHARLES DARWIN. 


June, 1896.—No. 25, Vol. III. B 


must be many such which may be, from time to 
time, available for acquisition, but, of course, these 
should only be of the very first rank of such men, 
or at least those whose names have become house- 


hold words 
among stu- 
dents of na- 
ture in its 
widest sense. 
One would 
think that the 
Council of the 
Royal Society 
would take 
upon itself 
the duty of 
furthering the 
desirable ob- 
ject, by re- 
commending, 
when oppor- 
tunity occurs, 
any portraits 
which can be 
obtained. At 
present, that 
which is 
everyone's 
business ap- 
pears to be 
the especial 
duty of no 
one—hence 
the paucity in 
the represen- 
tation of men 
who have 
attained to 
eminence in 
Science, as 
compared 


with Litera- 


ture, Art, Jurisprudence, Politics, or War. 
We propose to place in review before our readers 
those portraits which are of especial interest to 


2 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


them, giving a short sketch of each whom they 
portray. This will be made more valuable by the 
addition of sketches from the pictures themselves, 
by Miss J. Hensman, who has very kindly consented 
to make them for our pages, and to whom we desire 
to express our indebtedness. 

The first picture which catches our eyes on 
entering Room xvi. is the replica of a fine 
portrait painted for the Linnean Society, at 
Burlington House, of the late 


CHARLES ROBERT DarRWIN, (1809-1882). 


This portrait is by the Hon. John Collier, a well- 
known painter who was personally acquainted 
with Mr. Darwin, as with many other men of 
science, having married a daughter of the late 
Professor Huxley. Mr. Darwin is represented as 
two-thirds length, about life size, dressed in his 
out-door costume of a black cloak, holding in his 
left hand a soft felt hat, just as he was wont to 
stroll about his beloved garden at Down. This 
picture was painted in 1883, from studies taken 
from life. 

Nowhere has the heredity of ability of mind 
shown itself more than in the Darwin family. 
For four generations at least this ability has taken 
the form of scientific investigation. In 1644, a 
William Darwin possessed a small estate at 
Cleatham, and was a yeoman of the armory. at 
Greenwich to James I. and Charles I. His son 
William, who was born in 1620, served in the 
Royalist Army, and afterwards became barrister 
and Recorder of Lincoln. He married the 
daughter of Erasmus Earle, serjeant-at-law. A 
’ third William Darwin, who was eldest son of the 
Recorder, married Robert Waring’s heiress, with 
whom came the manor of Elston which is still in 
the family. There were two sons, William again 
being the elder, and Robert the younger, who was 
educated for the bar; he had four sons, the eldest 
of whom, Robert, born in 1731, appears to have 
first indicated the taste for natural science which 
was to found the family distinction in later years. 
The fourth son was Erasmus, to whom we shall 
have occasion to refer later in these notes. 
Erasmus became a noted physician of his genera- 
tion, an accomplished botanist, and a man of great 
mental vigour. He had three sons, the eldest, 
Charles, being educated for the medical profession, 
was a man of the highest promise, but was 
unfortunately cut off through a wound whilst 
dissecting. His youngest brother, Robert Waring, 
born in 1766, became a leading physician at 
Shrewsbury, was made a F.R.S. in 1788, and was 
the father of Charles Robert Darwin, F.R.S., the 
subject of the portrait under notice. It is hardly 
good taste to continue this family history to the 
living members, and it is needless to remind our 


readers that the two sons of the late Charles 
Darwin are ranked among our leading scientific 
men, each having again graced the family by 
becoming at an early age celebrated in their 
respective departments of scientific investigation 
and Fellows of the Royal Society. 

The name of Charles Robert Darwin is so fresh 
in our memories, and his life’s work so important 
and well known, that it would be mere supereroga- 
tion to here recapitulate it. Suffice it to say that 
his name will go down to posterity as a philosopher, 
ranking with Socrates and the greatest thinkers 
that mankind has ever produced. 

Among other portraits of Darwin extant are a 
water-colour drawing by G. Richmond; two in 
chalk by Samuel L. Lawrence; a bust (in 1869) by 
T. Woolner, R.A.; an oil painting by W. Ouless 
(1875), with replica at Christ College, Cambridge, 
which was etched by Rayon; oil-painting by W. 
B. Richmond (1879), also at Cambridge ; an etching, 
by L. Flameng, of Mr. Collier’s picture now referred 
to ; a lithograph in the Ipswich British Association 
Series; a medallion in Westminster Abbey, by 
Joseph Boehm, R.A., and the fine statue by the 
same sculptor on the staircase of the Natural 
History Museum, at South Kensington; there is 
also a bust of Darwin by Mr. Boehm in the National 
Portrait Gallery; a plaque by T. Woolner, in 
Wedgewood ware, is on Darwin’s rooms at Christ’s 
College, Cambridge. No portrait, however, of 
this truly great man can more faithfully depict 
that beautifully serene expression of one who had 
attained such profound knowledge, whilst living a 
life of the greatest simplicity, than that by Collier, 
in the National Portrait Gallery. 


MICHAEL FARADAY (1791-1867). 


The portrait of Michael Faraday, which is 
also in Room No. xvil., is pleasing and doubt- 
less life-like. It is of the head and shoulders 
of the sitting figure and is about two-thirds 
life size. This picture was painted, in 1842, 
by Thomas Phillips, R.A., and represents this great 
natural philosopher as looking young for his fifty 
years, with dark brown hair and fresh, healthy 
complexion. In the same room is a marble bust of 
Faraday by Sir Thomas Brock, A.R.A., presented, 
in 1886, by Sir F. Pollock, Bart., and the likeness 
between that piece of sculpture and the picture is 
unmistakable. 

Michael Faraday was the son of James Faraday, 
born at Newington Butts, on the Surrey side of 
the Thames, in London. His father and mother 
were country folk, of the farming class, from 
Clapham in Yorkshire, who settled at Newington. 
They were far from well off in worldly possessions, 
the husband being a blacksmith. It will be thus 
better understood that Faraday’s genius was 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 3 


individual as far as his family was concerned, and 
many are the stories of his shifts and plans to 
overcome necessity and grasp such education as 
was attainable in the days of his youth. At one 
period, about 1800, they were living in Jacob’s 
Well Mews, off Charles Street, Manchester Square. 
Near by, in Blandford Street, was a_ small 


MICHAEL FARADAY. 


stationer’s and bookbinder’s shop, and it was 
there Michael first started life as an errand-boy. 
The bookseller was one Riebau, who was so well 
pleased with the boy that he took him, without 
premium, at the age of thirteen, as apprentice. 
This apprenticeship as a bookbinder lasted for eight 
years. Among his first attractions to the physical 
studies which eventually passed to the deep learning 
and originality of thought which characterised 
him, were some desultory lectures by Mr. Tatum 
to which he was admitted like others on payment 
of one shilling. His first step, however, on the 
path which led to fame was through the gift of 
tickets from one of Riebau’s customers, for the 
last four lectures delivered by Davy at the Royal 
Institution, in the spring of 1812. He wrote out 
these lectures and submitted them to Davy, 
asking at the same time of Sir Humphrey, his help 
to get out of his trade to some occupation where 
he could study science. Davy took a fancy to him 
and employed him, at twenty-five shillings a week, 
as an assistant at the Royal Institution. Here we 
will leave him, for his scientific work is so well 
known that it requires no recapitulation. He died 
in a small house, placed at his disposal by H.M. 
the Queen, on Hampton Court Green, Michael 
Faraday was of slight stature though well built. 
He was by habit most active, energetic, and of 
great facial brightness and animation. A remark- 
able feature was that his head was so long from 
front to back that he could not wear ready-made 
hats. He always wore his naturally curly hair 
parted down the centre. He was a man of strong 


B 


emotions, generous, charitable and sympathetic. 
His relaxation consisted of occasional reading of 
light literature and frequent visits to theatres. 
A curious mixture was he of the logical and the 
thoughtless. He rarely thought of provision for 
the future, had an absolute trust that the Lord 
would provide for the morrow, and was a simple 
believer that he would be equally cared for after he 
left this sphere. Fortunately he received, much 
against his own inclination, a Government pension 
of £300 a year, which, with his plain style of life 
and few necessities, amply placed him in comfort 
to the end of his splendid life. 


SIR JOSEPH Banks, K.B., P.R.S. (1743-1820). 


The chief picture at the National Portrait Gallery 
of Sir Joseph Banksis most pleasing. It represents, 
in oil colours, by Thomas Phillips, R.A., a fine, 
stout, elderly gentleman of rubicund features. 
Dressed in a dark grey, rather loosely made frock 
coat, he is wearing sash and Order of the Bath. 
The figure is life-size, in sitting position, cut off 
above the knees. On his right-hand side is 
a table with a book and MS. lettered ‘‘On the 
Diseases of Whea—, by Sir Jos. Ban—.” His 
right hand is supported on a walking stick, which 
passes in front of the lettering of the MS. referred 
to. His hair is white, and he wears a short collar 
and white stock with frilled shirt. 

Sir Joseph was the only son of William Banks, 
of Revesby Abbey, in Lincolnshire, but was born in 


S1r JOSEPH Banks, K.B. 


Argyle Street, London. His education was care- 
fully tended ; first he had a private tutor, then to 
Harrow School, thence to Eton, when thirteen 
years old. Up to that period all teaching 
had been most irksome, and grave fears were 
felt for his future educational prospects. Sud- 
denly he conceived a passionate fondness for 


2 


4 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


flowers, and thence to the study of botany. His 
first book was ‘' Gerard's Herball,’’ which he found 
in a mutilated condition in his mother’s dressing- 
room. Leaving Eton at eighteen he was entered 
as a gentleman commoner at Christ Church, 
Oxford, in 1760. There his botanical studies led 
him on to other branches of natural history. He 
applied for and received permission, as there were 
then not any lecturers on the subject at Oxford, to 
establish a lecturer on botany. This he did at his 
own expense; visiting Cambridge for the purpose 
and bringing back with him Israel Lyons, 
astronomer and botanist. This he was enabled to 
do in consequence of the death of his father, which 
occurred in his first year at college; leaving him 
ample fortune and the family estate. In con- 
sequence of his remarkable attainments in science, 
Banks was elected a F.R.S., in 1766, at the early age 
of twenty-two. He commenced io travel in search 
of plants in the same year, visiting Newfoundland. 
and staying the winter following jin Lisbon. His 
great friend was Dr. Daniel Solander, who had 
been a favourite pupil of Linnzus. Sir Joseph 
Banks’ first long expedition was with Captain Cook, 
in the ‘‘ Endeavour,’ which he equipped at his own 
expense, taking Dr. Solander and two draughis- 
men with him. The ‘“‘ Endeavour” sailed from 
Plymouth in 1768. He had many adventures, 
including the scientific observation of a transit of 
Venus, which was pari of the object of his voyage, 
and collected immense quantities of material. 
This voyage included South America, South 
Pacific Islands, New Zealand, New Guinea and 
Java. On the homeward passage, Cape of Good 
Hope and Si. Helena were visited, and England 
reached on 12th June, 1771. His next voyage was 
the exploration of Iceland, in 1772, and in 1777 
Banks was chosen President of the Royal Society. 
Then followed some stormy years in the history of 
the society, the cause being a battle for supremacy 
between the physicists and what we now call the 
biologists; for the iime being the latter were 
successiul. 

In 178i Banks was created a baronet, the Order 
of the Bath was conferred upon him, and he 
became Privy Councillor int797. He died from 
gout at Spring Grove, Isleworth, t9th June, 1820, 
leaving a widow, but no children. His library and 
herbarium were lefi for life to his librarian, Robert 
Brown, with reversion io the British Museum: 
but Brown, shortly after the death of Sir Joseph, 
handed over all the treasures to the Museum. Sir 
Joseph’s artist, Francis Bauer, was provided for 
for life, io enable him to finish ceriain drawings 
and make others of new planis at Kew. 

Banks was a munificent patron of Science rather 
than a worker ai detail, and if he ever intended io 
publish the full results of his collections, he 
abandoned the idea in 1782, on the death, by 


apoplexy, of his friend Dr. Solander. He had 
up to then published comparatively little. His 
manuscripts are now in the botanical department 
of the British Museum. He was a man of strong 
will, considerable energy, and much individuality 
of character; in fact he was nothing if not 
autocratic. 


THomas BEwIcK (1753-1828). 


Of the three Bewicks, wood engravers, Thomas 
Bewick is best known among naturalists as the 
artist of the interesting engravings that illustrate 
his books upon “ British Birds,” which is his finest 
work, ‘‘ British Quadrupeds,’’ and many others. 
He was born at Cherryburn House on the southern 
bank of the river Tyne, at Ovingham, Northumber- 
land. It was but a cottage, and his father was 
John Bewick, small farmer and worker of a little 


TxHomas BEWICE. 


colliery for local consumption of coal. Thomas 
was the eldest of eight children by his father’s 
second wife, and John Bewick the other of the 
wood engravers of the family was the fifth; there 
being five daughters and three sons. 

Thomas Bewick, who seems to have been a lad 
full of pranks and innocent mischief, had very 
little education beyond whai was locally available 
in the village, but he early showed a natural talent 
for drawing, and a deep love of nature. His first 
attempis at wood engraving were copies of inn-signs 
cut with his knife. Among the frst of his 
drawings were some made with blackberry juice. 
Ali this ended in his apprenticeship io Ralph 
Beilby, at Newcasile-on-Tyne, a goldsmith and 
seal-engraver. Here Thomas Bewick first received 
instruction in drawing and engraving. Wood- 
engraving was then in England in a very low 
condition of ari, but it fell io the lot of this youth, 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 5 


in later years, to revive the art in Britain. Even 
now Bewick’s pictures are admired to the full, and 
his style frequently copied, although the art is, 
unfortunately, disappearing before the more rapid 
and less expensive ‘‘process’’ illustration so 
generally used. Bewick died on November 8th, 
1828, at his house in West Street, Gateshead. In 
character, Thomas Bewick seems to have been a 
thoroughly upright, honourable man, unassuming, 
but very independent and industrious. He brought 
up his son Robert Elliot Bewick (1788-1849), to 
his own profession of wood-engraver, in which 
Robert was most successful. He designed and cut 
many of the characteristic tail-pieces which adorn 
the works of Thomas Bewick. 


There are several portraits of Thomas Bewick in 
the neighbourhood of Newcastle-on-Tyne where 
the family name is deeply cherished. There are 
two in the National Portrait Gallery, the one 
sketched here by Miss Hensman being an oil 
painting by Thomas Sword Good. It was presented 
to the Gallery in 1894 by the Rev. Albert A. Isaacs, 
M.A., of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 
it Bewick is represented about life-size showing 
hardly more than the head. He appears to have 
been a man with well defined features, though a 
little hard and stern-looking. His complexion is 
depicted as florid, hair black, turning to iron-grey. 


(To be continued.) 


COMMENSALISM AND SYMBIOSIS. 


By JAMES Burton. 


{les is a matter of common knowledge that 

frequently, both among plants and animals, 
a kind of companionship is maintained between 
two organisms. This is sometimes of advantage 
to one only of the two parties, but often both 
profit by the association. The companionship 
may range from mere accompaniment to that of 
the most intimate connection. When the two 
organisms may dwell the one within the other so 
as to form apparently but one body, the partner- 
ship is known as Commensalism or Symbiosis, 
’ the former term being used generally for the 
connections of the less intimate kind, while the 
latter is restricted to those cases where the organ- 
isms have acloser union. It is at the same time 
true that no sharp line can be drawn dividing the 
one form from the other, as all intermediate states 
exist. Commensalism (which means having the 
same table) is well illustrated in its less intimate 
form by the Echeneis or sucking-fish, which 
accompanies other fish, sharks especially, no 
doubt profiting by the unconsidered trifles it picks 
up from the meals of its voracious messmate. It 
is able by means of a sucker on the top of its head 
to fix itself to the body of its friend, and thus gets 
conveyed from place to place without the expendi- 
ture of any exertion. Some sea anemones seem 
particularly inclined towards commensalism ; they 
are often found attached to the shells forming the 
homes of hermit crabs and even on the carapaces 
or claws of crabs, to an extent masking the animals 
on which they are fixed, and gaining in return a 
change of situation advantageous in the require- 
ment of food. They also themselves occasionally 
become the homes of tiny fishes which dwell within 
the cavity of their body. Some species of Holothuria 
(sea slugs), and a small fish, the Fierasfer, live in 
amicable and close companionship; the latter 


inhabiting the interior of the former, but passing 
in and out as it finds requisite. A crab, Pinnotheres 
piswm, is frequently found inside the shells of 
various bivalves, among others the mussel, where it 
obtains shelter and apparently does its host no harm, 
though probably scarcely paying for its accommo- 
dation in the way believed by the ancients, who 
asserted that it warned its friend of coming danger 
by a gentle nip, and so got the valves closed in 
time to ensure mutual safety. 

Some of the most interesting and typical cases, 
complete in all details, are to be found in Mr. 
Thomas Belt’s ‘‘ The Naturalist in Nicaragua. ’ 
If space permitted I should like to reproduce some 
of his observations, but they are too extensive. 
Anyone caring for natural history matters could 
not do better than procure this work. To take one 
instance—the trunk and branches of a species of 
acacia bear numerous pairs of strong curved spines, 
shaped something like a bull's horns. ‘These, 
when first produced, are soft and filled with a 
sweetish pulpy substance, which is soon eaten 
away by a small ant (Pseudomyrma), which makes a 
hole near the end of the spine and, after emptying 
it, dwells inside. ‘Here they rear their young, 
and in the wet season every one of the thorns is 
tenanted, and hundreds of ants are to be seen 
running about, especially over the young leaves.” 
If the plant is shaken or a leaf injured the ants 
swarm out from their homes and attack the 
aggressor, and are able to bite and sting severely. 
They thus form an efficient protection for the 
plant both against browsing mammals and also 
against the leaf-cutter ants, which are terrible foes 
to vegetation in general in that region. In return, 
the ants are not only supplied with houses and 
partial food by the acacia as described, but in 
addition certain glands situated on the leaves, 


6 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


secrete a honey-like fluid greatly enjoyed by them, 
and solid food is also provided in the shape of 
small ‘‘fruit-like bodies’’ found on the leaflets 
when they first unfold; these ripen at intervals and 
are then most acceptable to the ants, which con- 
tinually run about the young leaves seeking for 
fruits in a suitable condition, and thus prevent 
injury, at the most critical time, from the depreda- 
tions of other creatures. This species of ant seems 
adapted for this particular tree and is not found 
anywhere else. Moreover, when Mr. Belt sowed 
some of the acacia seeds in his own garden in 
another part of the country, where the Pseudomyrma 
did not exist, the seedlings at once fell a prey to 
the leaf-cutter ants, while in their native district 
they were protected by their own _ insect 
companions. There seems reason to believe the 
spines are not fully developed in cases in which 
the ants do not tenant them, so that an actual 
modification of the plant in the insects’ favour is 
brought about in the majority of instances. Such 
a close relationship and mutual dependence as is 
here implied, of obvious benefit to both parties, is 
very remarkable, especially when existing between 
a plant and an animal so self-reliant and free as an 
ant. It almost amounts indeed to symbiosis, and 
may well be taken as leading us to a consideration 
of that condition. 

Symbiosis means ‘‘ having the same life,” and in 
the connections described by the term, the organ- 
isms usually are actually connected by more or less 
complete bodily union, sometimes even to the 
extent of appearing as one to a careful observer. 
The examples of this condition are most of them of 
interest to microscopists, and itis in that connection 
especially I should like to treat them, particularly 
as many may be studied without trouble or 
difficulty by the ‘‘home naturalist.” The various 
small marine animals now known as Radiolarians 
(formerly Polycystina), and some of the Foramini- 
fera also, have embedded in the jelly-like substance 
of their bodies certain yellowish cells or granules; 
these, after having all sorts of theoretical functions 
assigned to them, are now almost universally 
believed to consist of true algz, living symbiotically 
in the ‘“‘sarcode”’ of the animal. They, in most 
cases, have a cellulose wall, nucleus, with colouring 
matter at least resembling the chlorophyll of the 
higher green plants, and appear like them to be 
able to excrete oxygen and form starch under the 
influence of light. It is conceivable that they use 
the carbon of their hosts as the basis for the starch 
production, as well as that contained in the water. 
It is quite probable that the oxygen they give off 
and some surplus portion of the starch are avail- 
able for the use of their living homes in return for 
the protective shelter afforded them. 

It is not necessary to go so far for examples of 
what at least may be similar cases. Every 


microscopist is acquainted with specimens of pond 
life of a colour identical with the algz that are their 
neighbours. Hydyva viridis referred to in SCIENCE- 
Gossip (Vol. ii., N.S., p. 276), various species of 
Stentor, Coleps, Pavamecium, and others, are of this 
tint. It has been asserted that owing to the 
presence of symbiotic algz in their body-walls, and 
in consequence of the presence of the plants, the 
animals are able to flourish with a greatly reduced 
food-supply, or even to bear its entire cessation for 
a time that would be fatal but for the assistance 
afforded by their indwelling companions, who 
procure it as already described in the case of 
the Radiolarians. It is true this theory is by no 
means so freely accepted as in the previous instance. 
If, as some of those even who oppose it in its 
entirety admit, the green colour is due to the 
presence of chlorophyll corpuscles, though not of 
actual algz, it certainly looks like the correct 
explanation, for chlorophyll is undoubtedly the 
most typical and characteristic distinction between 
plants and animals, physiologically considered. 
Strasburger, in his ‘‘ Handbook of Practical 
Botany,” gives an interesting instance which has 
the advantage of being easily observed by most 
microscopists. There is a small floating plant 
called Azolla; it is one of the Rhizocarps, a group 
of the vascular Cryptogams, and is closely allied to 
the ferns. It looks like a small fern frond and is 
from half to three-quarters of an inch in length. 
It consists of a stem with bright green pinnate 
leaves on each side, which float on the surface 
of water, having underneath membranous lobes 
immersed. The upper lobes are swollen or inflated, 
and havea cavity or hollow inside which communi- 
cates with the water through an opening on the 
inner side of the leaf, and growing from the walls 
into the cavity are long hairs, in some species at 
any rate. In the cavities in the leaflets of the 
living Azolla dwells another plant, one of the lower 
Algz, named Anabena; it belongs to the Nostocaceze 
and consists of rows of small bead-like cells, bluish 
green ; at intervals a larger cell slightly differing in 
colour occurs, which is called a heterocyst; I 
believe the purpose of these is not known, but 
probably they have some connection with re- 
production. The leaflets containing the Anabena 
may be pulled to pieces with needles on a slip in a 
drop of water, then on putting on a cover glass and 
pressing slightly, the little algae can easily be seen. 
A half-inch objective with B eyepiece, say about 
rro to 130 diameters, is sufficient, though a 
considerably higher power is better. Horizontal 
sections may be cut by laying the Azolla on a piece 
of cork or even on the finger, and making cuts from 
base to apex with arazor. Some are almost sure 
to show the chambers opened by the razor, and the 
Anabena inside. The slices mount nicely in 
glycerine or glycerine jelly, if the usual precautions 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 7 


are taken to prevent too rapid plasmolysis. I have 
some under the microscope by me now which have 
been mounted about eight years. It is not easy to 
see what advantage the Azolla gains by this 
companionship, though there may be some; but it 
is certain the alga obtains protective security, and 
may not improbably utilise some waste product 
from its host. It is true very similar species, if not 
identical ones, are plentiful enough without any 
protecting plant. Their colour shows they are 
able to fix the carbon dioxide found in the water 
for themselves, and are thus fitted for an in- 
dependent life. The Azolla is commonly grown 
with other aquatic plants in tanks in warm green- 
houses, and requires a higher temperature than our 
open air in order to flourish, but it will live very 
well floating on an aquarium at ordinary dwelling- 
room heat during several months in the summer. 
I have on one or two occasions obtained it from 
botanic gardens, and no doubt anyone sufficiently 
interested might get it that way on application to 
the proper authority. I have also obtained it in 
the summer from Mr. R. Green, Central Avenue, 
Covent Garden Market, London, who supplies 
various aquarium requisites, and probably would 
be able to forward specimens by post if desired. 

Many cases are known where a Nostoc, or closely 
related alga, takes advantage of cavities in other 
plants to enter and dwell there; they may be found 
in some of the Hepaticee and in the cells of 
Sphagnum, also in the large empty cells forming 
the velamen of the aerial roots of some epiphytic 
orchids. As in these cases, it is probable the 
tenant obtains no other advantage than that ofa 
comparatively secure resting-place, while the host 
is not benefited by its presence, it might be more 
appropriate to consider these as commensalism 
only. 

The most perfect instance of symbiosis, however, 
is one with which, from its commonness, all are 
more or less acquainted, and which may be 
investigated without difficulty by anyone possess- 
ing amicroscope. It isnow generally accepted that 
lichens are composed of two distinct organisms, 
one an alga, the other a fungus. They live 
together in companionship, each helping the other 
to fight the battle of life. With their united 
capacities they are able to occupy and flourish in 
situations which neither could hold alone, places 
in which no other plant could contrive to exist. 
The alga is always one of the lower members of 
the class, mostly unicellular, occasionally filamen- 
tous. It has been found possible, insome instances, 
to isolate the alga from its fungal companion and 
to cultivate it as a normal independent plant. The 
fungus is usually one of the Ascomycetes, though 
occasionally another kind, but the attempt to grow 
them without the alga has not succeeded. 

The satisfactory demonstration of lichen structure 


is not very easy, partly because of the small size of 
the elements and partly because the fungus hyphe 
are with difficulty wetted, so that even with a thin 
section the tissues are apt to be filled with air, 
which obscures the A fairly successful 
method is as follows: trunks of trees, somewhat 
damp walls, palings, etc., are often covered with a 
layer of bright green; if some of this is examined 
with a one-fourth inch objective, it will be found 
very commonly toconsist ofround cells, insomecases 
single, in others in fours; these are alge of the 
Protococcus or Palmellacee group. In places the 
layer appears grey, instead of green, drier and 
more powdery. If a specimen of this is examined 
it will be found difficult to wet, and will appear 
dark and ill-defined under the microscope owing to 
entangled air. The grey colour and retained air is 
due to the presence of fungus hyphe growing 
around and between the cells of the alga, in the 
denser parts matting all together, and forming, in 
fact, one of the pulverulent lichens. Between the 
patches of grey lichen and green alga portions may 
be found in a transitory condition suitable for 
examination, and in damp weather, especially, 
observation of the composition of the lichens is 
fairly easy. Toattempt the examination of sections 
cut from a Thalloid lichen in its natural state is 
somewhat hopeless, as they seem to defy all the 
usual methods of getting rid of air in such tissues. 
I have had a Cladonia in weak spirit for months and 
at the end of the time it was no wetter than at first ; 
but pieces torn with needles and well soaked in 
slightly warm water will often show the arrange- 
ment of the alge, either in rows or scattered 
irregularly through the thallus, according to the 
species. It is believed that the fungus supplies to 
the alge, water containing mineral matters in 
solution, and receives in return carbo-hydrates, 
which the alge is able to manufacture under the 
influence of light, from a solution of carbon 
dioxide, owing to the presence of chlorophyll in 
its cells. It is probable that the amount of 
reciprocity between the two elements varies 
considerably among different species of lichens. 
In not a few cases perhaps the fungus actually lives 
as a parasite upon its imprisoned captive, giving 
nothing inreturn; but a more detailed consideration 
of the physiology of the relationship would here 
carry us too far and occupy too much space. 

In conclusion, we must carefully note that both 
commensalism and symbiosis, though not parted by 
any sharp boundary line themselves, are each 
fundamentally distinct from parasitism. Further, 
though it is true that organisms living in such close 
relationship run a great risk of degenerating into 
that condition, yet, when they do so, the amicable 
companionship previously existing ceases at once, 
and as parasites they have no place in our subject. 


9, Agamemnon Road, West Hampstead. 


view. 


8 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


FIELD MEETINGS. 
By ProFessor G. S. BourGeEr, F.L.S., F.G.S.* 


EetELD WORKS is one of the chief objects of 

local Natural History Societies, so far as it 
results in the registration of distributional or 
phenological phenomena, or in the observation of 
plants and animals under their natural conditions. 
For such field-work to be of scientific value, it is 
primarily requisite that it should be within 
definitely prescribed geographical limits. Every 
field club should, I think, have a precise boundary, 
whether that of a river basin, a county, a par- 
liamentary division, a parish, or some radius from 
acentre. County associations may well, of course, 
overlap the districts of various minor clubs, and I 
think it would be well for the latter to work 
without regard to school clubs, which will 
generally do well to adopt a radius. 

In collecting fossils, where precise discrimination 
of zones may not be necessary—in getting together 
fungi for subsequent determination, study or 
demonstration, in a foray, and perhaps in some 
other cases, the combined research of many pairs 
of eyes may lead to better results than that of 
small select parties or solitary work; but it can 
hardly be denied that the main use of field 
meetings is educational or demonstrational rather 
than original discovery. 

The successful organisation of a full and 
valuable series of field meetings involves a con- 
siderable amount of attention to troublesome 
detail. This is more especially the case if the club 
attempt to cater for lunches or teas. For my part 
I certainly think that such joint meals add much to 
the success of field meetings, most people liking to 
be saved all trouble as to securing some food, as 
also that of hiring conveyances, and even, if 
possible, that of taking railway-tickets, by some 
simple system of coupons, a lump payment, or, at 
least, an order, in advance. It will, therefore, be 
generally desirable, if he can be got, to have a 
special excursion secretary, with a consultative 
committee, or otherwise an excursion committee, 
the members of which will each undertake the 
management of one or more excursions. Such a 
committee should meet in the winter, so as to plan 
a season’s programme well in advance. Most 
clubs begin their excursions, I think, too late and 
end them too early in the year, often practically 
confining them to May, June and July, whereas an 
early spring ramble and an autumn fungus-foray 
might well, in my opinion, be included in every 
scheme. 

To meet the convenience of members living in 
different parts of its district, the club excursions 
should be arranged as far as possible in divers 


directions, and I would suggest that the officials of 
all the neighbouring clubs should be consulted, 
and, if possible, a joint meeting held with each in 
its territory and another within the boundaries of 
the club itself. In the case of such joint meetings, 
the main arrangements would naturally be made 
by the home club. 

Where there is a river, an estuary, or a portion 
of coast within a club’s boundary, at least one 
dredging expedition should be attempted annually. 

It will, I think, often prove useful to have a local 
guide who is well acquainted with footpaths, etc., 
in addition to the ‘‘ conductors ”’ who are responsi- 
ble for the purely scientific guidance of a party, 
though, of course, if the guide knows the localities 
of interesting natural history objects, so much the 
better. It is, I think, often a good plan to have 
several ‘‘conductors”’ for different branches of 
natural history ; and a short lecture in the field or 
several at different halts, if illustrative of things 
seen during the walk, will add much to its 
value; but the enthusiastic amateur photographer 
should not be allowed to waste much time, and 
bore the party, by taking mere ‘‘groups.” These 
field demonstrations may usefully be arranged in a 
series, a botanist, for instance, taking the various 
classes or natural orders of plants; at successive 
excursions, and with a little forethought, adequate 
illustrative specimens can nearly always be 
obtained. I have generally found that if a locality 
is chosen for its geologicai or archzological interest, 
the botanist and entomologist are almost sure to 
light upon something by the way, interesting to 
them. Certainly the secretary or some other 
conductor should have a whistle to keep the party 
together. We should, I think, do well to have 
separate ‘‘recorders”’ for different departments, 
one carrying the club vasculum for the club 
herbarium, another the camera for the club album 
of scientific photographs, etc., and from their 
records a terse account of the noteworthy results 
of each excursion may readily be drawn up 
either by the secretary or any other member 
present for the club proceedings. The most 
interesting work of a field meeting must be done 
on foot, but it will often be practicable to arrange 
a rendezvous for those driving or cycling. 

In vehicles, meals, etc., it is always desirable to 
keep the generally necessary expenses as low as 
possible, so as to exclude no one, whilst anyone 
wanting more can make his own arrangements. 


* A paper read before the South-Eastern Union of Scientific 
Societies, at the Congress held at Tunbridge Wells, on April 
25th, 1896. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 9 


DRAGON-FLY GOSSIP. 
By W. H. Nunney. 


Be accompanying figures are reproductions 

from microphotos lately sent me by Mr. J. 
Mearns of Aberdeen, and, from the comparative 
aspect of larval species, are deeply interesting. 
Fig. 1. represents a caudal fan of the larva-nymph 
of Pyrrhosoma minium, which larva was somewhat 
minutely described by me in ScIENCE-Gossip for 
September (vol. i., N.S., p. 148), 1894. A curious 
thing with reference to this species is that the 
nymph when dead, from natural causes, and slightly 
decomposed, assumes much of the scarlet tint 
possessed by the perfect insect. 


bony na aly Elen et 
Z FE Pe y 


yy 


nie 


morphosis. This month of May, being so far hot, 
has produced to me one small male of L. 4-maculata, 
which emerged on the 8th about sundown. This 
is the first time I have observed the change 
to imago state in this species, and in none 
other have I so well been able to observe the 
development of the imaginal labium and appendages 
from the ‘‘ mask” of the nymph. The process is 


marvellous, and needs to be watched with extreme 
patience and care to enable a good mental grasp of 
the details to be obtained, but is well worth the 
trouble. 


The hinged portion of the nymphal mask 


TaiL-Fans oF DrAGOoN-FLY LARVA-NYMPHS. 
Fig, 1, Fan of Pyvrhosoma mintum; Fig. 2, Micronympha pumilio; Fig. 3, M. elegans. 


The other two figures are of the caudz of species 
of Micronympha. The difference in general shape 
and the characteristic branching of the trachez are 
very noticeable and, seen apart from the species to 
which they belong, they hardly seem to be 
congeneric. It is difficult to conjecture the reason 
for such difference in these lamella, as shape can 
have here but little to do with function. 

For many months past I have had under observa- 
tion larvee-nymphs of all groups, representing many 
species ; of these five are now in my rearing glasses. 
Probably owing to the colder climate of the north, 
the larve of AZschne and Libellule from Scotland 
are far more vigorous and pugnacious than their 
southern forms. Further, I think I am justified in 
saying, they attain alarger size before the final meta- 


merges, I believe, into the hypopharynx of the 
imago, whilst the centrally divided labium, at first 
puffy and of no particular shape, gradually 
broadens out into the noticeable lower lip and 
palpal lobes of the imago, approaching the maxilla 
and mandibles until occupying practically the same 
relative position as the mask of the larva. 

It is curious how few parasites have been re- 
corded in connection with dragon-flies ; Polynema 
natans attacks their eggs, flukes thrive in the 
intestines of the larvz, Acari infest the wings of 
some perfect forms, and I have found a Dipteron, 
belonging to the family Borboride, associated 
with an adult 2&schna, a hitherto unrecorded 


fact. : 
25, Tavistock Place, Bloomsbury, London, W.C. 


BS 


10 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


THE STUDY .OF AQUATIC WORMS. 


By THE Rev. Hitperic Frienp. 


I—Pretminary Notes. 


HE study of our indigenons fresh-water worms, 
and their allies which are found in damp 
places, though not strictly aquatic, has been 
greatly neglected, Until the publication, a few 
months ago, of Mr. Beddard’s ‘‘ Monograph of the 
Order Oligochzta,” there was next to nothing 
published in the English language on the subject ; 
and even now no one has taken up the group 
seriously, with a view to the tabulation of our 
indigenous species. Dr. Benham has done more 
than anyone else in this direction, but his studies 
have been limited largely to professional work as a 
lecturer on biology. Mr. Beddard has examined a 
few native forms, and some few which belong to 
other lands, though found at Kew and elsewhere im 
England. Dr. Bousfield has worked at one or two 
genera, but the full results of his researches have 
never yet been given to the world. Here, for all 
practical purposes. the matter ends; yet Beddard’s 
invaluable memoir shows that many worms which 
are ceriain to occur in England have been mono- 
graphed on the Continent, and a glance at the works 
of Vejdovsky, Vaillant, Rosa, Michaelsen, Eisen and 
others is enough to convince us that a very wide 
and fruitful field lies open to anyone who is 
prepared to take up the systematic investigation of 
the subject on English soil 
Having been for many years engaged in the siudy 
of earthworms, during which time I could not fail 
to accumulaie a large amount of material and first- 
hand imformation respecting the Oligochzts out- 
side the group usually known as earthworms, I 
have lately done something in the direction of 
tabulating these resulis. The ontcome is exactly 
as I had aniicipated. Almost every week brings 
mesome new species. This may mean either (z) 
new to Britain, or (2) mew to Science. Since the 
Enown British species may also be reckoned on 
one’s fingers it will be seen that not much labour 
is required to add something new. The foreign 
species which have been recorded, however, are very 
numerous, and what is new to Britain may have 
been long Known io Science. But when we come 
to consider the fact that insular faunas and floras 
always contain unique and interesting forms, it will 
not bea matier of surprise when I say that Great 
Britain possesses Many aquatic worms which are as 
yet unknown on the Continent, but probably also 
not a few which will be confined to our islands, 
and therefore of peculiar and special interest. In 
this I am not speculating, or posing as a prophet: 
*« We speak that we do know,” and in due time I 
shall lay before the scientific world some facts 


which will be amply sufficient to justify this 
Statement. 

The season, however, for meetings, papers, and 
discussions is for the present at an end, and ere the 
next term arrives there will be full opportunity to 
confirm and enlarge my resulis. It will then be 
shown that the recorded species of Marionia, 
Fridericia, Limmodridus, and others can be greatly 
extended; and if, meanwhile, some learned 
European or American confrére does not publish a 
new list of additions to these and other genera, 
which include those which I have discovered, the 
British fauna will be able to show a list of aquatic 
or limicoline worms which will compare favour- 
ably with that of other lands. 

In the meantime, only good can result fom 
stating what has already been done. In my next 
article, therefore, I propose supplying a list of 
species already known io exist in Great Britain, 
arranged in the order followed by Mr. Beddard, so 
that we may be able, in future, to show what 
additions are made from time io time to the 
indigenous species, as well as indicaie which are 
new to Science. Bui, if the besi results are to be 
secured, the work should not be left to one col- 
lector, or one investigator. It is in the nature of 
things that only a few possess the necessary 
apparatus, literature and experience to know when 
a species is new, or, if old, io what genus it belongs. 
It cannot, therefore, be expecied that many of 
your readers will care io make a sysiematic siudy 
of aquatic worms, but every one who is interested 
in the advancement of Science can do his part 
by taking up ihe work of colleciing. We want 
noi only to discover new species, but also to record 
the distribution of the forms which occur, whether 
new or old. There is literally nothing known of 
the disiribuiion of aquatic worms in England 
The earthworms have been iolerably well worked, 
and splendid results have been achieved in the 
matier of the Polychzia. Now we want to work 
out the families which form the connecting link 
between the terresirial forms on the one hand and 
the marme on the other. These cannot fail io be 
of special interest and value from the biological 
standpomt. We know that many fresh-waier 
species closely approach the marine forms, and 
that Many Marine species are similar io those 
found im fresh water, but there is yet an immense 
amount of mew workiobedone. . 

Perhaps some one who reads these lines, and is 
longing for an opportunity to take np new work, 
may be asking—How can I be oi service here, where 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. II 


shall I look for specimens and who will tabulate 
the results of my gleanings? In what book can I 
find clear instructions for identifying specimens if 
I wish to work up my gleanings? Let me supply 
answers, and, in the first place, everyone can help 
by making collections in every conceivable spot. 
Aquatic worms and their allies are ubiquitous; 
from seashore to mountain height there is scarcely 
a spot where one or other of the species may not be 
sought. If the collector lives by the seaside he 
should be especially careful to examine estuarine 
runnels, dykes or ditches, backwashes, and all 
places where there is decaying vegetable matter. 
Here both water-worms and white worms will be 
found, as well as red worms belonging tothe genus 
Pachydvilus or the related Marionia. Inland, every 
pond and ditch, stream and lake, gutter and drain, 
wood and copse may be explored. Under the moss 
which covers with a rich green garb the rugged 
sandstone rock will white and yellow worms be 
found, as well as in the timber and mould formed 
by the decaying of a tree or of last year’s leaves. 
Among water-weeds which are floating in the lake 
or pool, at the roots of the weeds growing in old 
ponds or quarries filled with water, among the 
mud of horse-ponds and gutters—anywhere, every- 
where the collector may look. The specimens may 
for some time evade his observation owing to their 
minute dimensions and his untrained eye, but in 
due course he will be rewarded. In the muddy 
margins of streams and rivers one often finds three 
or four different species living together. Some 
kinds are gregarious, others lead a more solitary life. 

If the collector wishes to identify his species 
he must have access to the ‘‘ Monograph,” by 
Beddard, a volume which is published at two 
guineas net. The works of Vejdovsky and others 
are only accessible to men of means or to those 
students who have access to a first-class scientific 
library, such as those connected with the learned 
societies. For the rest, one may find scattered 
articles in the various journals and magazines, but 
as the results have all been tabulated by Beddard 
up till the end of 1894, and little, if anything, has 
been done in England since then, the ‘‘ Monograph”’ 
must, for the present, be the principal source of 
information. 

Seeing that many can collect, but only a few can 
work out their gleanings for want of a handy, 
accessible text-book or manual, it will be a 
convenience if someone will act as referee, and 
undertake to examine the collections which may be 
made, and report the results to suitable magazines. 
I can only speak for myself, but I can assure the 
reader who may be prepared to help in this good 
work, that I shall always be ready to do for the 
aquatic worms what I have already done for the 
terrestrial species during the past six or seven 
years. During that time I have raised the number 


of British earth-worms from a doubtful eight or 
ten to a positive quarter-of-a-hundred species; the 
collections having reached me from almost every 
part of the country. 

Nearly all the species may be sent packed lightly 
in damp moss in tin boxes. They should be in 
a living condition, as results from specimens in 
that state are much more satisfactory than those 
from preserved specimens. If found in grass, 
leaves, straw or decaying material, they may be 
sent with the food ; but if they live among earthy 
matter it often happens that they are battered 
in transit if the earth is included in the package. 
Purely aquatic forms may be usually sent in tubes 
or bottles with water and plants; but as they often 
perish quickly if kept too long confined, they 
should be despatched the same day as the gather- 
ings are made. Bottles and tubes should be 
enclosed in tin boxes for greater security, and with 
each consignment should also be sent a note 
specifying habitat, date, locality and other par- 
ticulars of a local nature, calculated to throw light 
on their mode of life, period of sexual maturity, 
and other facts of biological interest. For the 
present, consignments may be made to me at the 
address given below, and in my next article I will 
commence a list of species already described as 
British. I shall, as a rule, acknowledge by post- 
card any collections which may reach me, but 
as the work involves a great expenditure of time 
and money, collectors who wish for special informa- 
tion will oblige by sending addressed envelopes. 

If SclENcE-Gossip can thus be made the pioneer 
in this interesting pursuit, its resuscitation will not 
have been in vain. 

7, Fern Bank, Cockermouth. 


BRITISH COLLECTIONS AT KENSINGTON.—We 
sincerely hope that the rumour is unfounded, which 
Mr. Henry H. Howarth refers to in ‘‘ Natural 
Science.” It is to the effect that the special 
collection of British Animals at the British 
Museum of Natural History at South Kensington 
is to be distributed into the general collection. 
We feel certain that the result would be most 
disastrous to the encouragement of natural science 
studies in this country. We know it is a depart- 
ment which is constantly referred to in an 
unobtrusive manner by many young naturalists 
who thus spare the time and patience of the 
courteous assistants in the students’ rooms. Rather 
let us hope the collection may eventually be 
increased by making it a completely typical 
reference collection, where those of the large 
number of persons who cannot visit the museum 
on week-days may on Sundays compare their 
captures and obscure specimens for identification. 
No such opportunity elsewhere occurs in London. 
That the general public are interested in and 
educated by the special British collection one may 
easily find by listening to the surprised and 
intelligent remarks made by visitors on seeing 
gathered together the animals which occur in their 
own country. 


12 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


INTRODUCTION OF MOLLUSCA 


INTO BRITAIN. 


Ry A. S. KENNARD. 


a? all students of the Mollusca the publication 

of Mr. H. Wallis Kew’s book, ‘‘ The Dispersal 
of Shells,” was very welcome. For here is a work 
of about three hundred pages dealing entirely with 
the mollusca, and there is not a new species or even 
a new variety described in it; neither has any 
attempt been made to alter our old-established 
names. For these mercies we are indeed thankful. 
Mr. Kew has here brought together a large number 
of facts dealing with the means of dispersal 
possessed by freshwater and land mollusca. 
Whatever errors there are are those of omission 
rather than commission ; but in chapter ix., which is 
headed ‘On the freshwater and land mollusca in- 
troduced into the British Isles by human agency,”’ 
there is much to take exception. It is obvious 
that the question whether a species is or is 
not indigenous is best settled by an appeal to 
the geological record. This Mr. Kew has not 
done. I will readily admit that the published 
lists of pleistocene and holocene mollusca are 
too often unreliable; but this is not to be wondered 
at, very few geologists know anything about our 
recent shells, and, on the other hand, their 
fragmentary condition does not appeal to the 
conchologist. But in spite of this much good work 
has been done of late years, more especially by 
Mr. Clement Reid and Mr. B. B. Woodward. 
Mr. Kew first of all states that: ‘‘Of the forty- 
six freshwater species included in the Concholo- 
gical Society’s List of 1883, there are only two, the 
zebra mussel, Driessena polymorpha, Pall, and an 
American coil-shell, Planorbis dilatatus, Gould, 
which can be reasonably regarded as human 
importations, and, as far as I know, only one 
other, Spherium ovale, Fér., has ever been looked 
upon as even doubtfully indigenous.” 

That Planorbis dilatatus has been introduced there 
can be no doubt, but this is not so with regard to 
Dreissena polymorpha, Pall. Mr. Kew has collected 
the opinions of the ‘‘ authorities,’ and we find that 
with the exception of Gwyn Jeffreys, they all have 
regarded it as introduced from the Continent. Dr. 
Jeffreys’ opinions, which are set forth in his ‘‘ British 
Conchology,’’ conclude with the hope that this 
species might be found in the upper tertiary 
deposits in this country. This has now been done, 
for in Mr. B. B. Woodward’s paper, ‘‘ The Pleisto- 
cene Mollusca of the London District” (Proc. Geol. 
Ass., vol. xi, No. 8), it is recorded that Mr. W. J. 
Lewis Abbott found a single valve of this species 
at Whitefriars, London, in a deposit ten to fifteen 
feet from the present surface and which ‘“‘ most 
probably accumulated at the mouth of the old 


Fleet ditch, in the early days of the city’s existence.” 
Of course a single valve is not much to go upon, 
and more evidence is wanted; but there can be no 
doubt that the introduction of this species is by no 
means such a certainty as Mr. Kew states. 
Mr. Jeffreys is the offender with regard to 
Spherium ovale; it occurs with Planorbis dilatatus in 
Lancashire, and he thought that it might be 
Sphevium transversum, Say, but as it is found in the 
forest bed of Norfolk this opinion is untenable. 
As to the statement which Mr. Kew quotes that 
Planorbis glaber, Jeff., is identical with P. parvus, 
Say, and, like P. dilatatus, introduced, Mr. Dall, 
after careful comparison of the types, has pro- 
nounced these species to be different, and P. glaber 
is one of the most abundant shells in pleistocene 
deposits. Of terrestrial species it seems there are 
several whoseclaims to be true nativesare considered 
doubtful. Testacella maugei, Fér., is considered to 
be a recent introduction. It has never been found 
in any deposit in this country, but the same remark 
applies to its allies, T. haliotidea, ‘Drap., and 
T. scutulum, Sow. ‘The life-history of these species 
is such as to render it extremely unlikely to have 
been entombed in any deposit; so that at the 
present, geology cannot help us, and we must wait 
for further evidence before expressing an opinion. 
Passing by Stenogyva goodallii, Miller, and Helix 
elegans, Gmel., both of which have been introduced, 
we come to Helix pomatia, L. As regards geological 
evidence it is again negative. It has never been 
found in any deposit in this country, so that 
perhaps the view that it is not a native may be the 
true one. Helix cantiana, Mont., Mr. Kew remarks, 
‘‘can hardly be looked upon even as a possible 
importation.”” But is this so? At the present 
time it is one of the most abundant species in the 
south-east of England, and is found in many 
other parts of England; yet in spite of this it is 
unknown in any deposit even the most recent ; and 
this has led Mr. B. B. ‘Woodward to express the 
view that it is post Roman in its introduction, and 
with this opinion I must concur. Helix cartusiana, 
Mill, although at the present time restricted to the 
counties of Kent and Sussex, had formerly a more 
extended range, as it has been found in an alluvial 
deposit at Felstead, Essex, so that Gwyn Jeffreys’ 
later view that it was ‘‘clearly indigenous ” is the 
correct one. Helix pisana, Mill, shares with 
H. cantiana and H. pomatia the distinction of being 
the only helices not found in a fossil state. This 
fact, and its distribution in these islands are 
almost conclusive proof that it is not truely a 
native. With regard to Helix obvoluta, Mill, in 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 13 


addition to the evidence given by Mr. Kew in favour 
of its being indigenous, there is the fact that it 
has been found in the pleistocene of Cambridge. 
There is one species which Mr. Kew has omitted, 
perhaps because it occurs in slightly brackish 
water as well as fresh, namely, Paludestrina 
(Hydrobia) jenkinsi, Smith. The facts concerning 
this species are so recent that there is no need 
here to recapitulate them. First described from the 
Thames Marshes, where it swarms in countless 
myriads, it has since been recorded from Topsham, 
Sandwich, near Lewes, and Staffordshire. Mr. 
Lionel E. Adams, in 1892, suggested that it might 
have been introduced from the Baltic. That it is 
an introduction there can be but little doubt, but 
until it has been found in some other locality 
outside the British Isles it is waste of time to 
speculate about its true habitat. In conclusion, I 
must differ most heartily from Mr. Kew’s statement 
that ‘‘ we are unable to distinguish our native fauna 
withany degree of certainty’; a careful examination 
of the more recent deposits is all that is required, 
and when this is done it will be found that not only 
will our true molluscan fauna be known, but that 
many problems connected with distribution will be 
settled also. 


Benenden, Mackenzie Road, Beckenham, Kent. 


AQUATIC. HYMENOPTEROUS 
INSECHS: 
By FreEpb. Enock, F.L.S., F.E.S. 


UV) NDER the above title several minute parasitic 

hymenoptera have been described, notably 
the two found simultaneously by Sir John Lubbock 
(Eimn-)Erans., vol: xxiv, p. 135). he habits 
and economy of hymenoptera are so varied that 
the wonder is that so few have been found inhabit- 
ing either the eggs or larvee of aquatic insects. I 
venture to think that one reason for this is that the 
study of the British hymenoptera, especially the 
Chalcididze, has been much neglected by ento- 
mologists. The present condition of this family in 
our national museum proves that very little 
attention has been given either to re-arrange or 
add to our indigenous species. This is much to 
be regretted, as frequently an enquirer as to the 
name of a minute insect has the greatest difficulty 
in making it out. Another reason why our 
progress is so slow in discovering new species in 
this branch, is that those who study and work so 
hard at the rotifera appear not to have time to 
consider other creatures which may be drawn into 
their nets. As an instance of this, it was only 
by the merest chance that the first specimen of 
‘““an aquatic hymenoptera insect’’ caught last 
year was not emptied out without any record, for 
the ‘‘ pondist,”” when he first saw it, ‘‘ thought it a 


fly which had tumbled into the water"; but by a 
chain of circumstances it was rescued and recorded 
(ScIENCE-GossiP, vol. ii, N.S., p. 89), and there is 
now every probability of its life-history being fully 
worked out. I have already proof that this most 
extraordinary aquatic hymenopteron does not confine 
itself to laying its eggs in those of dragon-flies. 

Last year I was fortunate in obtaining a large 
number of this insect (males and females), keeping 
many of them alive in water for a considerable 
time, enabling me to observe the habits and 
economy of the fly, which, after most careful 
microscopic examinations of the thoracic structure, 
antenne, etc., I found to agree in every point with 
Haliday’s description of Cavaphvractus cinctus. The 
unique character of this genus being the ‘‘ reeled ”’ 
metathorax, to show which I have prepared a 
number of specimens in various positions. 

Owing to the kindness of Dr. R. F. Scharff, 
Director of the Dublin Science and Art Museum, I 
have been enabled to make a lengthy and exhaustive 
examination of the original Haliday type collection 
of British Mymaride, from which I have gained 
invaluable information, and though many of the 
carded specimens are ‘‘ hoary with age’’ and gum, 
I hope, with the help of the hundreds of specimens 
which I have mounted for the microscope during 
the past twenty years, to unravel some of the 
mystery and doubt which appear to have sur- 
rounded this family, containing, as it does, the most 
minute and most exquisitely lovely of winged insects. 

The strange Prestwichia aquatica, Lubbock, has 
not been observed since its first capture in 1862. 
May I ask all ‘‘ pondists,” or ‘‘muddists,” as they 
delight to call themselves, to keep an extra vigilant 
eye open for this little-known aquatic hymenopteron, 
which, however, does not belong to the Mymaride. 
I have succeeded in breeding several species of 
semi-aquatic hymenoptera from various sources, 
but have not yet identified them. 


21, Manor Gardens, Holloway, London, N. 


HIBERNATION OF ParRARGE EGERIA.—I have 
had under observation, during this winter, a brood 
of the ‘‘speckled wood”? butterfly (Pararge egeria), 
which I raised from ova deposited at the end of 
August, 1895. Some of the various members of 
this brood have behaved unusually during hiber- 
nation. The larger portion fed up rapidly in 
autumn, turning to pup, the remainder being still 
in the larval condition. It is usual, I believe, for 
this species to hibernate as caterpillars. I placed 
half the pup of this brood out of doors, and the 
rest were kept in our dining-room, where there is a 
fire daily during winter. No change was observed 
until the first week in February, when some of the 
chrysalides began to turn dark-coloured, and the 
first perfect example emerged on February 7th. 
About the same time, the larve, which had 
remained passive, commenced to feed, and are 
rapidly progressing towards maturity.—J. lek 
Carpenter, Johnson Villa, Gleneagle Road, Streatham, 
S.W.; February 13th, 1896. 


14 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


CHARACTERISTIC BRANCHING OF BRITISH FOREST-TREES. 
By THE Rev. W. H. Pourcuas. 


(Continued from Vol. II., page 321.) 


Tse BEEcz. 


N the beech (Fagus sylvatica, Linn.) we have 
another example of a tree whose leaves are 
alternate and so disposed as that each third leaf 
ranges directly over the first, the fourth over the 
second, and so on, thus causing them to be two 
ranked. Then, since it is the tendency of leaves to 
present one surface to the sky, the other to the 
earth, spreading horizontally on each side of the 
upright main stem, the primary branches, which 
spring from buds formed im the axils of those 
leaves, will also exhibit a iwo- 
tanked arrangement as to their 
point of origin, although, as they 
lengthen, they take a more or 
less upward direction; then the 
secondary and succeeding orders 
of branches to which these give 
rise will spread in a horizontal or 
fan-like manner, forming, in sum- 
mer, shelves or layers of foliage. 
The young shoois are pendulous, 
indeed, at first, but as the season 
advances they become more rigid and assume a 
horizontal or even an ascending direction. 

The beech is remarkable for the rapid elongation 
of the young leading shoots. This takes place in 
such a way that the internodes develop more 
rapidly than do the young leaves which they bear. 
Thus in the early part of the season, the leaves 
near the extremities of the young pendulous shoots 
are smaller in proportion to the internodes than 
they are when each has attained its full develop- 
ment. The internodes or spaces between the 
leaves are in the beech longer than in some other 
trees, being frequently two and a quarter inches 
or more in length in the leading shoots, and 
hence the intervals between the lateral branches 
arising from these leading shoots are corre- 
spondingly long. In the branchlets to which these 

teral branches give rise it is shorter, as will just 
now be seen. The annual shoots of the beech are 
slender, scarcely a quarter of an inch in diameter, 
and this contributes to their flexile and pendulous 
character. 

The flowers of the beech are never, I think, 
produced immediately from leading shoots of the 
main branches, at least, not in its early life, for in 
the early life of the tree such shoots give rise 
to leafy side-sprays or branchlets; but as the tree 
grows older and the branch becomes twice pinnate, 
some of the branchlets of the second order, instead 


of producing side-shoots with long internodes, like 
those of the primary shoot, form short branchlets 
with undeveloped internodes, 7.2. spurs, the leaves 
of which are close together in rosettes, instead of 
Deing ranged at intervals along a lengthened axis. 


BEECH, IN THE FLOWERING STATE. 


This is the preparation for flowering, but it is not 
by every one of the nodes that such spurs are 
formed, but mainly by those in the lower part of 
the shoot, whilst those nearer the point give rise to 
leafy shoots, and these (secondary) leafy shoots or 
branchlets produce, in the following season, spurs 
like those of the primary shoot. The point also of 
such branchlets often becomes shortened into a spur. 

It is only by spurs that the flowers of the beech 
are produced, and not, I believe, by these until the 
second year of their existence ds spurs. The 
flowers spring from the axils of the closely-packed 
leaves of the spur, the staminate or male flowers 
first or lowest in order, and these are arranged in 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 15 


small pendulous catkins, several of such from each 
spur. The fertile or pistillate flowers are enclosed 
in a pod-like involucre, which eventually becomes 
the woody and bristly enclosure of the nut or mast. 
This involucre is borne ona shorter and stouter 
stalk than the staminate catkins, and one such 
involucre only is produced by each spur, and 
is placed near its tip. The terminal bud of a spur 
is always a leaf-bud, not a flower-bud, and thus the 
spur can go on lengthening indefinitely, although 
slowly. It sometimes happens, however, that a 
spur will forsake its character and, under the 
influence of a moist season or some other cause, 
will take the form of a slender leafy shoot, with 
fully-developed internodes. 


growing quite near, and apparently of equal age, 
retained the leafy long-jointed character of their 
youth. 

A striking peculiarity of the beech is the way in 
which its branches, more particularly the lower’ 
and older ones, follow the same line of growth 
from their origin onward to the end of the last 
season’s shoot. I have measured one of the 
longest of such branches which I have seen in the 
neighbourhood from which I write, and I found its 
length to be more than fifty-five feet; and this is 
no extreme case. The ramification of the beech 
thus contrasts strongly with the abrupt changes of 
direction which we see in the gnarled branches of 
the oak and in some examples of the wych-elm. 


RAMIFICATION OF THE BEECH. 


One may constantly find branchlets which have 
begun as spurs, and, as such, have grown barely 
half-an-inch in the season, the leaf-scars being 
placed as close as possible above each other, and 
then shooting out with internodes of as much as 
two inches in length. The tendency to form spurs 
varies in different seasons, but it usually increases 
with the age of the tree, and thus old trees show 
fewer and fewer of the long lithe shoots which 
characterised their early growth, and gradually 
assume a stiff and short-jointed habit, eventually 
becoming bare and stagheaded in aspect. There 
is, however, much difference in this respect 
between individual trees. I have seen one tree 
quite covered with fruiting spurs, whilst others 


This length of branch without change of direction 
arises partly, perhaps, from the long-jointed habit 
of growth, but more especially from the fact that 
the bud at the end of each leading shoot is not as 
in the elm and in the lime, an axillary bud, but is 
the end of the axis itself, which in autumn closes 
up into a winter bud possessing greater force of 
development than the axillary buds below it. In 
some cases the yearly shoot lengthens for an inch 
or more beyond the last leaf before closing up into 
a winter bud, but in other cases there is no space 
between the last leaf and the terminal winter bud, 
the leaf-scar being found close to the base of 
the bud; but in these instances we always find at 
least a rudimentary axillary bud between the leaf- 


16 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


scar and the end bud, proving that this latter is 
really a portion of the axis. At other times this 
last axillary bud will be found nearly as large and 
vigorous as the terminal bud. When the two buds 
are thus close together, at the end of the year’s 
shoot, the axillary bud seems to have almost as 
much force of development as the terminal bud, 
and to share with it the future leadership, so 
that a forking of the branch is the result. 
This seems to occur chiefly in the upper part of 
the tree. 

The angle which the branches make with the 
main stem, and the secondary branches with their 
parent branch, is small, usually less than half a 
right-angle, but the older and longer limbs soon 
lose this, for after ascending for a little they are 
made to arch and bend downward by the weight of 
branches and foliage. The delicate spray at their 
extremities shows for the first season or two the flat 
fan-like or shelf-like habit of growth which has 
been mentioned; but after a while the slender 
twigs take an upward direction as they lengthen, 
and become irregularly twisted and crowded. In 
the upper part of the tree the leading branches all 
ascend, and, being crowded with secondary branches 
and spray, have a somewhat brush-like form when 
seen in winter. 

Considered as to its general features the beech 
is one of our noblest forest trees. There is 
considerable difference, however, in the growth and 
ramification of different individuals accordingly as 
the leafy or flowering habit of growth prevails. 
The finest examples are those in which the vigour 
of the tree is expended in forming lengthened 
leafy shoots rather than in the production of 
short-jointed spurs, for an excess of these latter 
is apt to give the branches a stiff, unclothed 
appearance. 

The stem is massive, often short when the tree is 
growing alone, but when amongst other trees, and 
more especially if in a grove of its own kind, the 
stem rises as a lofty column, crowned above by the 
dense head of foliage, and deriving peculiar beauty 
and refinement of character from the smoothness 
of the pale-grey bark with which it is clothed. 
Towards its base the stem often spreads out into 
buttress-like ribs or projections, connected above 
with the larger and lower branches, and continued 
downward into the main roots which run for 
a while above the surface of the ground in an 
irregular sort of network with deep hollows 
between them. This is more particularly the 
case when the tree happens to be growing on a 
sloping bank. 

The skeleton of the beech as seen in winter, shows 
the main branches sweeping onward from their 
origin to their tip in an unbroken, although often 
pleasingly curved line, and crowded towards their 
end with slender branchlets and sprays. These, in 


summer, are clothed with a wealth of foliage, and 
they lie often so closely one upon another as to 
leave little room for such breaks and hollows as give 
variety of light and shade. The extremities of the 
branches with their spray stand out, indeed, from 
the general mass, but their outline is too pointed 
and tapering, the spray too widely scattered, to 
present any broad surface on which light can rest. 


BEECH, IN THE WINTER STATE. 


Their beauty lies rather in their feathery delicacy. 
This is best seen in the elegant and often drooping 
terminations of the lower branches, particularly 
in early summer when clothed with their shining 
and silky-margined foliage. When suffered to 
grow undisturbed the branches often feather down 
almost to the ground. 
(To be continued.) 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 17 


TUNBRIDGE WELLS CONGRESS. 


A CONGRESS of delegates from the principal 


scientific societies and field clubs of south- 
eastern England was held at Tunbridge Wells on 
April 25th last. It was largely attended ; amongst 
others, representatives were present from the 
Tunbridge Wells Natural History and Philosophic 
Society, Tunbridge Wells Amateur Photographic 
Society, Bromley N.H.S., Brighton N.H.S., North 
Kent N.H.S., Sidcup N.H.S., Horsham N.H.S., 
Hastings and St. Leonards N.H.S., Rochester 
N.H.S., West Kent N.H.S., New Brompton and 
District N.H.S., Ealing N.H.S., Geologists’ Associa- 
tion, East Kent N.H.S., Dover N.H.and Antiquarian 
Society, Eastbourne N.H.S., Folkestone N.H.S., 
North London N.H.S., City of London College 
Scientific Society, City of London N.H.S., Sidcup 
Literary and Scientific Society, Maidstone N.H.S., 
Society for the Protection of Birds; and the 
Commons Preservation Society. There was also 
a large attendance of both ladies and gentlemen 
interested in the Congress; some of whom had 
come long distances. 

The Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, M.A., F.L.S., 
President of the Tunbridge Wells Society, was 
elected Chairman. The Congress was originated 
as well as largely organized and carried out 
by Dr. George Abbott, Hon. Secretary of the 
same society, the object being to pass certain 
resolutions for the formation of a union of 
natural history and scientific societies of south- 
eastern England. The Chairman explained 
the objects, which were concisely set out in the 
following letter, written by Dr. Abbott to Sir 
Douglas Galton, the President of the British 
Association :— 

‘The Natural History and Philosopical Society, 
Tunbridge Wells ; March 2nd, 1896. Sir D. Galton. 
—Dear Sir,—I beg to enclose you a programme of 
the Natural History Congress which is to be held 
here next April. Some remarks in your Ipswich 
address encourage me to draw your attention to 
the possible usefulness and importance of such 
unions to the British Association. As soon as our 
Union is established and we are in working order, 
I shall propose that our district is divided up 
amongst the different societies—to each being 
allowed a definite portion of the map as its 
sphere of work. Next, that each society shall 
nominate and, with their consent, elect suitable 
person or persons in every village in such district as 
honorary corresponding members of the respective 
societies and associates of the South-Eastern 
Union of Scientific Societies. Each society would 
offer the members: (1) Free admission to their 
lectures and excursions; (2) copies of their Transac- 
tions; (3) the use of their library; (4) assistance in 
naming of specimens, and with the formation of school 
museums. The corresponding members, in return, 
would be asked to: (x) Forward surplus natural 
history specimens to their societies’ museum. 
(2) Supply prompt information on the following 
subjects: (a) new geological sections; (b) details of 
wells, borings, springs, etc. ; (c) finds of geological 
and antiquarian interest. (3) Answer such questions 
as the British Association or the local society may 
require; (4) keep an eye on historic buildings; 
(5) assist the Selborne Society in carrying out its 
objects. Such appointments would be certain to 
stimulate individual scientific work in the parishes, 
and, if care were exercised in making the appoint- 
ments, they would ere long be much appreciated. 
If we are able to accomplish this in the south-east 


of England, I think there would be no difficulty in 
starting and carrying on similiar Unions all over 
England. Each Union would be certain to have 
one or more representatives at your Annual 
Congress, and in this way, as soon as the Unions 
were universal, you would be in touch with persons 
in almost every village in the United Kingdom. 
Your circular letters of inquiry could then be sent 
out to the secretaries of each Union, and soon 
quickly distributed to all localites. I assume, of 
course, that there is little or no need to increase the 
number of members of the British Association, and 
it is only because I think it would make its work 
still more thorough and universal that I advocate 
this new extension of its important work. On its 
usefulness to the Natural History Societies I need 
not dilate, as you doubtless know there are two or 
three Unions actively engaged in doing scientific 
work, and in direct communication with the 
Association. In time, too, I hope ours will become 
equally useful. After reading your Ipswich address, 
I cannot help thinking that to this new scheme the 
Same arguments might be applied as those quoted 
by you which were given originally in favour of the 
establishment of the Association fifty years ago. 
{n conclusion, may I venture to suggest (a) that it 
would be an advantage if a delegate from the 
British Association attended our Congress at 
Tunbridge Wells; (b) that your Council should 
consider the advisability of encouraging the 
formation of similiar unions (ten or twelve) in the 
different districts of the United Kingdom. A grant 
of £25 from your funds could do much, in the course 
of one or two years, to establish all the Unions. 
—Yours truly, G. Abbott.” Upon the reading 
of this letter, on the invitation of the Chairman, 
Mr. Griffith, Assistant General Secretary of the 
British Association made some general remarks 
upon the advantage of such Union, and the possible 
support which the Association might render at a 
future time. 

On the proposition of the Chairman the following 
resolution was carried: ‘‘ That the delegates from 
various scientific societies of Surrey, Kent, and 
Sussex, assembled in Congress at Tunbridge Wells 
on the 25th of April, 1896, agree that the Congress 
shall meet annually, by invitation, at the home of 
one or other of the associated societies.” It was 
agreed to add London, Middlesex, and Hampshire 
to these counties. It was then decided that the 
Congress should meet annually at the home of one 
of the associated societies, in a different town each 
year, and that Dr. Abbott should be the Hon. 
Secretary of the Union; the Rev. Mr. Stebbing 
being elected President for the ensuing year. Tun- 
bridge Wells was then selected as the next meeting 
place. Several papers were then read, dealing 
chiefly with the subject of the meeting, and a most 
successful Congress brought to a close. The day's 
proceedings included a short excursion before the 
meeting, the visitors being shown the principal 
features of the immediate neighbourhood, including 
the outcrop of Tunbridge Wells sandstone. The 
members of the Tunbridge Wells Society also 
entertained the visitors to luncheon and tea. 


Owts’ PELLETS WaNTED.—I should be much 
indebted to anyone who will send me owls’ pellets, 
stating (if possible) the species to which they 
belong, the locality ; also whether there is game in 
the neighbourhood, and, if so, of what sort. (The 
amount of postage will be returned.)—Lrone! E. 
Adams, 77, St. Giles’ Street, Northampton. 


18 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Ne Bee 
bee Diz eS 


NOTICES BY JOHN T, CARRINGTON. 


Report of Observations of Injurious Insects and 
Common Farm Pests during the year 1895; with 
Methods of Prevention and Remedy. By ELEANOR 
A. ORMEROD, F.R.Met.Soc., F.E.S. 166 pp. royal 
8vo, with 30 illustrations and 2 plates. (London: 
Simpkin Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Co., 


Limited, 1896.) Price 1s. 6d. 

We have, elsewhere, on several occasions pro- 
tested that our Government, as represented by the 
department over which Mr. Chaplin now presides, 


HIPPoBosca EQUINA.—1 and 2, nat. size and magnified from life; 3, pupa removed 
from puparium. Puparium, nat. size and magnified. (From Miss Ormerod’s 


“ TInjurious Insects.’’) 


should allow Miss Ormerod to go on unaided year 
after year at what must be considerable sacrifice, 
doing what most enlightened Governments do for 
themselves. Here has this lady, single-handed, 
been for more than twenty years trying to 
instil some elementary knowledge of their 
insect foes into British farmers and fruit- 
growers. The feeble leaflets issued by ‘‘ the 
department” are a remarkable contrast to 
the excellent reports of Miss Ormerod, the 
nineteenth of which is now before us. If 
these were circulated by Government aid 
through all village schools in rural districts, 
and intelligently explained by the teachers, 
much good might be attained. A leading 
feature of the report just issued is an article 
on flies injurious to horses and cattle. It is 
accompanied by two finely-drawn plates of 
the foot of forest-fly (Hippobosca equina) from 
two aspects. There are also figures in the 
text, two of which we reproduce to show the 
admirable manner these reports are illus- 
trated. In consequence of the last military 
manceuvres having taken place in the New 
Forest, where Hippobosca is frequently 
troublesome to horses, some attention has 
been drawn to these flies. Miss Omerod 
has collected much information about these 
pests, some being of scientific value to 
dipterists, as well as to horse owners. 


and long prickly bristles. 
(From Miss Ormerod’s ‘‘ Injurious Insects.”) 


A Contribution to our Knowledge of Seedlings. By 
the Right Hon. Sir Joun Lussock, Bart., M.P., 
F.R.S., D.C.L., LL.D. 288 pp. crown 8vo, with 
282 figures in the text. (London : Kegan Paul, 
Trench, Tribner and Co., Limited, 1896.) Price 5s. 

This is a popular edition of Sir John Lubbcck’s 
well-known larger work on the germination of 
plants, and forms vol. Ixxix of ‘‘ The International 
Scientific Series.’ So little is understood of the 
reason why the forms of cotyledons should difter so 
greatly from the subsequent leaves of plants, that 
any knowledge attainable for unravelling this 
mystery of nature should be valuable. The 
subject is so easily studied, and so deeply hidden 
are the causes of variation in form of the cotyle- 
dons, that the circulation of this new popular edition 
of Sir John’s work will open up a wide field of 
investigation. The comparative study of the earlier 
stages of plant-life among many persons who 
previously saw little interest in seedlings will be 
much extended by the issue of this book. It is 
needless to add how plainly 
written, well arranged, and 
encouraging to early investiga- 
tors are the pages in the new 
edition of ‘‘ Seedlings’ by this 
versatile author. 


The Royal Natural History. 
Edited by RicHARD LYDEKKER, 
B.A., F.R.S. Illustrated by 
72 coloured plates and 1,600 
engravings. (Londonand New 
York: Frederick Warne and 
Co.) Published in ts. parts. 

Part 31 of this fine work is 
out, and with it we leave the 
vertebrates and enter some 
description of the various 
classes of invertebrates. In- 
deed, the last few pages of 
Part 30 were also devoted to 
them, commencing with the 
sea-squirts or Ascidians. In 
Part 31 are two brilliantly coloured plates of insects, 
and the title-page and index to Volume v._ In this 
number also are some orders of insects, Hymenop- 
tera, Diptera, and a portion of the Lepidoptera. 


.Foot oF H. Eguina, showing double claws, central process 


A portion of the claw of H. maculata. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Artistic and Scientific Taxidermy and Modelling. 
By Montagu Browne, F.G.S., F.Z.S., 463 pp. 
small 4to, with 22 full-page illustrations, and rz 
others in text. (London: Adam and Charles 
Black, 1896.) Price 21s. 

This is a beautifully-produced book, well printed 
and handsomely illustrated. It is ‘‘A manual of 


Hawk (KESTREL). 


instruction in the methods of preserving and 
reproducing the correct form of all natural objects, 
including a chapter on the modelling of foliage.” 
The veteran author is the well-known curator of 
the Leicester Corporation Museum, who, years 
ago, issued a small handbook on the same subject. 
This work is of a far more pretentious character, 
and is one of the most important on taxidermy yet 


19 


published in England. The recent revolution in 
natural history museum management—so ably 
led by Sir William Henry Flower at South 
Kensington—has raised the craft of taxidermy to 


a fine art. Our older manuals have therefore 
become out of date, and some such work 
as that before us was needed. This book 


Showing method of bracing and binding the feathers. 
(From Montagu Browne’s “ Artistic Taxidermy and Modelling.”) 


is divided into ten chapters on the various 
sections dealt with, including tools used in the 
work, killing and preservative agents, modelling 
compositions, collecting animals for subjects, 
treatment of mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes ; 
also chapters on modelling flowers, foliage, fruits, 
fungi, algz, etc.; concluding with a chapter on 
mounting animals in an artistic manner and a 


20 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


bibliography of these subjects. Perhaps the most 
instructive chapters are those devoted to modelling 
the bodies and limbs of mammals, birds or fishes, 
and the making of artificial foliage, flowers and 
other vegetable products for decorative purposes. 
Mr. Montagu Browne must indeed be successful in 
this department as will be gathered from the 
following quotation taken from page 405 in connec- 
tion with his description of a case of herons in the 
Leicester museum. ‘‘An odd thing in connection 
with this case, and one specially flattering to the 
artist, is that few people realize that the elm-leaves 
are modelled, and frequent questions have been 
addressed to the attendant as to where the water is 
kept in which the stumps are presumably placed to 
keep the leaves green, whilst one or two visitors 
have gone a step further, and enquired if it is the 
heat of the room which has caused the stumps to 
throw out leaves!’’ The bibliography is extensive 
and a large number of works are mentioned, but as 
might naturally be expected. several are overlooked ; 
we are, however, pleased to see included the fine 
work on Taxidermy by Oliver Davie, noticed in 
these pages in July last. The illustrations are well 
reproduced, suitably selected, and will be found 
generally useful: the least pleasing, perhaps, being 
that of fighting tigers, one of which seems as 
though suffering from a wasting disease of the tail. 
Plate x. is effective, and we reproduce it with 
pleasure for the benefit of our readers, by per- 
mission of the publishers. 


A Handbook to the Birds of Great Britain. By 
R. BowDLerR SHARPE, LL.D. Vol. iii., 346 pp. 
8vo, with 93 coloured plates. (London: W. H. 
Allen and Co., Lid., 1896.) Price 6s. 

This is one of ‘‘ Allen’s Naturalists’ Library,” a 
series we have on several former occasions had the 
pleasure of noticing. The volume before us con- 
tains the continuation of the ducks, and that 
difficult class, the waders. Dr. Bowdler Sharpe 
has brought the information on each species well 
up to date, and there is much pleasant reading for 
ornithologists, and abundant information for all 
who take only a casual interest in bird life. Dr. 
Sharpe has managed excellently to write some 
admirable chapters on the waders without plagiar- 
ising other authors, a task far from easy. His 
quotations are well chosen, especially some on the 
habits of certain American species closely allied to 
members of our own fauna. Dr. Sharpe’s know- 
ledge of the group is extensive and, what is 
important, fresh in his mind, as he has only 
recently completed a work on the shore-birds in 
the ‘‘ Catalogue of Birds.” The book is dated 
February 26th of this year,so that it is hardly 
possible to obtain more recent information. 


The Student's Lyell : A Manual of Elementary 
Geology. Edited by John W. Judd, C.B., LL.D., 
F.R.S. 658 pp. 8vo, with coloured map and 736 
figures. (London: John Murray, 1896.) Price gs. 

All students of geology will welcome Professor 
Judd’s admirable new edition of ‘‘Lyell.”” As 
stated in the preface by Dr. Judd, the progress of 
geological science during the last quarter of a 
century has rendered necessary very considerable 
additions and corrections, and the re-writing of a 
large portion of the book, but there has not been 
any interference with the author’s plan and 
methods, which have so characterised Lyell’s 
work. With the aid of this new edition and a 
series of specimens, now so readily referred to in 
the public museums, or obtained from Mr. 
Russell, 78, Newgate Street, London, the young 
student should find geology easy indeed, compared 
with the time when Lyell first issued the work. 


an h/* 


ASI SA DASE 
SI ZUS CHK! 
[Sawsst 


ANI h 


INTERESTING LEECHES.—I was much interested 
in Mr. Burton’s note on the above (ScIENCE- 
Gossip, vol. ii., N.S., p. 306). I think his 
leeches must be the same kind I have sometimes 
found feeding on water-fleas. The manner in 
which they do this is very curious, and can be well 
observed under a two-inch objective. They insert 
the small end between the valves of their victim, 
and when firmly attached, a little telescopic sucker 
goes to work probing about, and sucking out all 
the soft internal parts, when it reaches the eye the 
black pigment is seen to shoot down the sucking- 
tube in a stream. I have sometimes found them 
attached to the glass of my tanks by their posterior 
sucker, and waving about with a water-flea impaled 
on the small end. I have one now on the glass 
with about thirty young ones under it, it has been 
in the same position every time I have looked at it, 
for at least a week past. Like Mr. Burton I have 
been unable to find any description of these 
creatures, and should be glad of further information 
as to their life-history-and habits.— W. J. Chaffey, 
294. Windham Road, Bournemouth. 

Wat Becomes oF Hypra.—The appearance of 
Major-General Varrand’s note under this very 
pertinent title (ScieNcE-Gossip, N. S., vol.ii., p. 276), 
and the fact that Mrs. Climenson has mentioned 
my mame in connection with this interesting 
subject (SciENcE-Gossip, vol. ii, p. 314), has 
induced me to make a brief statement of the facts 
to which she refers in her ‘‘ Notes of a Home 
Naturalist.” Finding Mrs. Climenson was not 
acquainted with Hydra vulgaris and H. viridis, I put 
up about a dozen of the former and two or three 
of the latter in a small tube, with some bits of 
Anacharis; also specimens of Cauthocampitus and 
Cyclofs as food for the Hydra. I filled the tube 
with water from my aquarium, corked it tightly, 
and packed it carefully in cottonwool ina small 
box. I was greatly surprised to learn that, on the 
arrival of the little parcel, not one Hydra could be 
found, though the other occupants were very much 
in evidence. I could not think of any reason for 
the failure of the Hydra, so I despatched another 
precisely similar tube, with a precisely similar 
result, except that about three of the Hydra had 
not quite disappeared, though they did so after- 
wards. All the Hydra were extremely small— 
mere dots, in fact, when contracted—and I thought 
that perhaps the Cyclops and Cauthocamptus were 
too much for them, owing to their having knocked 
the little Hydra off their perches, and perhaps 
killed them with the blow. I rather incline to the 
belief that it was the railway journey that upset 
them, though I received safely a similarly packed 
tube of fair-sized Hydra, sent by Mr. Bolton, of 
Birmingham, all of which were alive. I do not 
think that it was the close confinement that was 
responsible for their demise, as I kept some after- 
wards in a similar tube, and they lived for some 
days. The apparently absolute and complete dis- 
appearance of them is the most mysterious part of 
the question; they seem to have vanished into thin 
air—or water, rather. I shall await further notes 
on the subject with much interest.—C. Nicholson, 
202, Evering Road, London, N.E. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 21 


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CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 


Rises. Sets. Position at Noon. 
hm. hm, R.A. Dec. 
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mH aco BIG coo Che oy Ear es, 2" Cl! 
THE enon 1 See LOM Mae WO; 2a w 230, 2/72 
Rises. Souths. 
A.M. A.M. 
Moon ... a8 ooo. CY coo, Zhe) 
Pr Ole. 0-3 2)ree 9°20 
Souths. Sets. 
P.M. P.M. 
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P.M. Diameter. 
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A.M. 
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Venus Sy EE ona MON ooh “GION oo SHES 19° 41’ N 
pe Ure Lemma Qurass 14248 220 . 5) 
Bp OIE edo) Ma eed, LC aaa eae 23° a7! 
Marzs .... Abele eee EA OMe. Seunly, teem. (0:32 i) Gyo}! 
SBE bon Boos | as HOHE) 4° 30! 
op AR con GAS nce’ SUE eho 7 eS ToMtAY 
P.M. 
Fuptter ... my BI cn Pall cs HO bos EY cas Gl?! fat ING 
Saturn ... pp ES oon SHS) coo cg BUI) oan, Te? an. Gy 
Uranus ... 1 BE 0 OH ons IO) oe TS coe GY SS 
Neptune... a Zi coo MC) G05, EW) cco FAD) ccs DRY GY INT 
Moon’s PHASES. 
Last Qy... June3... 8.2 am. New... June rz ... 8.43 a.m. 
TSHOP ety LOL se LUA Ta. | LIV 25) ne 16155) Aci. 


On June 14th there is an occultation of Jupiter. 
The disappearance takes place at gh. 52m. p.m.; 
the reappearance at roh. 43m., but the planet will 
be too near’ the horizon for this latter to be 


observed. 


THE Moon.—The Strand Magazine for April con- 
tains an interesting paper on ‘‘ Lunar Scenery ’’ by 
Sir R- Ball, prefaced by a reduced copy of Mr. T. 
K. Mellor’s outline map (Horne and Thornthwaite), 
and containing copies of some Lick and Paris 
photographs. 


PLANETOIDs.—It is stated that, although Dr. 
Max Wolf, of Heidelberg, has discovered so many 
of these little bodies—the last on April 2nd—he has 
never directly observed one of them through the 
telescope, his discoveries being made from the 
photographic plates, on which, whilst stars are 
shown as points, planets appear as short lines 
owing to their motion. 


Comet.—Professor Lewis Swift, Director of the 
Lowe Observatory, South California, discovered a 
comet on April 13th. It was situated in R.A. 3h. 
39m. Dec. N. 19° 40’, in other words, 5° south of 
the Pleiades. It was described as bright. Since 
then it has travelled rapidly north, so that on May 
3rd, Mr. E. R. Blakeley, of Dewsbury, found it in 


R.A. 3h., Dec. N. 57°, still travelling to north- 
east. Its diameter appeared about 3’/, it was 
irregularly round, and fairly bright. Dr. Schorr 
calculates that it passed its perihelion on April 


17th, 1896, 12h. 14°4m. The comet appears to 
be a new one. 
PERSONAL EQuATION, in making telescopic 


observations, is a subject which perhaps hardly 
receives so much attention asitshould. A singular 
instance of this has just been brought to light. 
Professor Ed. E. Barnard has published the results 
of his observations on the satellites of Uranus. He 
states that Ariel is about half a magnitude brighter 
than Umbriel; of the other two, Titania and 
Oberon, he concludes that they are of constant, 
nearly equal brightness, though his earlier ob- 
servations made it seem that they both varied 
to the extent of fully a magnitude. He has 
been forced to the conclusion that if there are 
two nearly equal lights, to his eye the lower 
appears fainter. 


NEw Lunar ATLAs.—It is to be hoped that ere 
long Professor Dr. L. Weinek, of Prague, will suc- 
ceed in having his photographic atlas of the moon 
finished and published. To that end, Miss C. W. 
Bruce, of New York, has generously contributed 
1,250 marks, and the Imperial Academy of Science 
at Vienna, has granted a subsidy of 500 florins. 
Such an atlas would prove a far better ‘‘ court of 
appeal’’ than any of the published maps could 
possibly do, in difficulties such as arose in October, 
1866, when the late Professor Schmidt missed 
Linné, a crater which Lohrmann had described as 
‘‘very deep,’ and in its place found only a bright 
patch and a little hill. Another time when such 
a work would have proved of inestimable use 
would have been in 1877, when Dr. Hermann 
Klein, on May 27th, discovered what is believed 
to be a new crater, now known as Hyginus N. 
Those who have familiarized themselves with 
selenographical detail have long felt the need of 
such a work. 


MetTEors.—On April 12th, about 8 h. 5 m,a 
brilliant meteor was visible, having a slow motion 
from west to east. Reports of it are to hand from 
places so far distant as the Isle of Wight and Ren- 
frewshire. In London its altitude above the north- 
north-east horizon was about 25°. Mr. Frank Sich, 
jun., Niton, Isle of Wight, writes:—‘‘On Sunday 
night, April 12th, about five minutes past eight, I 
was fortunate enough to see at Niton, in the Isle of 
Wight, avery large meteor. It was travelling some- 
what slowly, and rather low down in the north-east, 
and going towards the east. I did not observe 
that it left any trail behind it, but attached to it on 
the west side was a small cone of red light. The 
meteor-light was yellow. It suddenly ‘ went out’ 
without any audible report.”" It helps much if those 
who witness these beautiful phenomena, note, as 
nearly as possible, their path amongst the stars, or, 
at least, their altitude, and also, in making known 
the same, state their exact place of observation. 
This is of use in the calculation of the meteor’s 
distance above the earth. From sucha comparison 
of observations, M. Camille Flammarion calculates 
that the great meteor of February toth, which 
caused so much sensation and, indeed, damage, at 
Madrid and neighbourhood, must have been at the 
height of 14:4 miles at the time of its explosion. 
Thus he writes in the Bulletin of the Société 
Astronomique of France. 


22 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


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In our last number appeared a note on ‘‘ Wood- 
peckers near London,” by Mr. J. A. Cooper. We 
regret to say that this genial ornithologist contracted 
a cold at Eastertime which speedily caused his death. 
He will be much missed at the meetings of some 
London societies. 


On April zoth, Mr. Noble bought at auction, at 
Mr. Stevens’ rooms in Covent Garden, for 160 
guineas, a great auk’s egg which was a fine 
specimen, though very slightly damaged on one 
side. It was from the collection of the late 
Mr. Tuke. 


WE have received the first three parts of a new 
monthly magazine devoted to ornithology, bearing 
the name ‘‘ The Ornithologist,’”’ edited by Mr. H. 
K. Swann. Each number contains an illustration. 
The articles and notes on birds are of a popular 
character, and many are of interest. We wish our 
new contemporary success. 


LITTLE more than a year ago we noticed in these 
pages a clever book by the Rev. W. Clement Ley, 
M.A., on ‘“Cloudland.”” Even then Mr. Ley’s 
health had so far failed that his son was entrusted 
with seeing the work through the press. We 
have now to announce the death of this talented 
meteorologist and author, under peculiarly sad 
circumstances. 


. Miss ELEANoR A. ORMEROD, so long known as 
an authority in this country on economic entomo- 
logy, will have a fine display, illustrating injurious 
insects, at the forthcoming Bathand West of England 
Agricultural Society's Show at St. Albans. In 
addition to actual material supplied by farmer 
correspondents, which will be fully explained, this 
lady’s sister has prepared some large diagrams. 


WE have received a specimen of a scientifically 
constructed tobacco-pipe made by the Biltor 
Company, of 93, Oxford Street. The new arrange- 
ment is excellent for stopping the nicotine and oils 
from entering the mouth. This is attained by 
inserting an absorbant cartridge into the stem, 
which effectually arrests the noxious oils, and 
renders smoking a pleasure, not only to the smoker, 
but to his neighbours who probably dislike the 
smell of a foul pipe more than genuine tobacco 
smoke. 


THE LONDON GEOLOGICAL FIELD CLaAss com- 
mences its eleventh year of most useful work. 
The teaching is given during excursions made on 
Saturday afternoons between the end of April 
and middle of July. The excursions are of a 
popularly scientific character and are open to 
ladies as well as gentlemen. They are conducted 
by Prof. H. G. Seeley F.R.S., who gives short 
lectures upon the districts visited, which are all 
within easy access of London. Further particulars 
as to membership and future excursions may be 
obtained by writing to the Hon. General Secretary, 
Mr. R. Herbert Bentley, 31, Adolphus Road, 
Brownswood Park, South Hornsey. 


HEL1x pomatia is recorded by Mr. Wilfred Mark 
Webb, from Chapple, in Essex, which is a new 
locality for this edible land-snail. 


In the number of SciENcE-Gossip for September 
last, we wrote an article upon the preservation of 
our fauna and flora. It advocated the formation 
of reserves for the purpose, and among other places 
suggested Wicken Fen. We now hear this fen is 
for sale, and could be purchased for a comparatively 
small sum. Can anything be done to apply the 
property to this purpose? 

Messrs. Ross anp Co. of 111, New Bond 
Street, W., have issued two fully illustrated cata- 
logues of optical instruments. One of these is 
devoted to the most modern photographic appara- 
tus and the other to microscopes and objectives, 
hand-telescopes, field and opera-glasses, and many 
other necessities to our comfort and enlightenment. 
These catalogues are priced sixpence each. 


THE Agricultural Department of the University 
Extension College at Reading has issued its second 
annual report upon field experiments on hay, pasture 
and root crops, carried out in 1895. ‘The reports 
are by Mr. Douglas A. Gilchrist, B.Sc., the director 
of the department, and Mr. P. Hedworth Foulkes, 
B.Sc. The latter portion of the report deals with 
insect and other animal ravages of crops in the 
district. 


Dr. ALBERT GUNTHER, F.R.S., is the President 
of the Linnean Society for the coming year.. He 
recently retired from the keepership of the Zoologi- 
cal Department at the British Museum. Born at 
Esslingen, in Wiurtemburg, sixty-six years ago, 
his knowledge of the English language is most 
perfect, and most of the scientific papers which 
have contributed to make his name so well-known 
in connection with zoology were written in 
English. 


Now that all the natural science museums in 
London are open on Sunday afternoons, many 
naturalists, who through their daily occupation 
rendering it previously impossible, will have golden 
opportunities of visiting these magnificent institu- 
tions, as well as the picture galleries. The little 
known, but splendid Museum of Practical Geology, 
in Jermyn Street, adjoining Piccadilly Circus, is 
by no means the least interesting. 


THE Journal of the Marine Biological Association 
for February contains some notes and a figure 
relative to specimens of female common eels in the 
museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in 
London, displaying nearly mature ovaries. There 
are also important papers on the ‘Culture of 
Sponges,” by Mr. E. J. Allen, B.Sc., and upon 
the ‘‘Improvement of Sponge Fisheries,” by Mr. 
George Bidder. It does not appear that, as at 
present understood, the artificial culture of sponges 
is commercially profitable, though exceedingly 
interesting from a scientific point of view. 


Pror. T. D. A. CocKERELL of Las Cruces, New 
Mexico, U.S.A., is anxious to establish for 
scientific research a biological station in that 


State. He proposes to combine with it a holiday 
home for rest for over-worked students and 
teachers. The climate is magnificently healthy 


and bracing. It is intended to carry on the 
establishment without ‘‘interference of politicians 
and other self-interested or ignorant persons.” 
We sincerely hope the plan will succeed, for it 
sounds just like the place to which we are longing 
to retire. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 23 


a 
A fo6 


Viva 


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CONTRIBUTED BY G. K. GUDE, F.Z.S. 


“Das TieRREICH”’ (The Animal Kingdom. 
Friedlander, Berlin, 1896). The German Zoo- 
logical Society has launched upon the gigantic 
task of a complete synopsis of the animal kingdom. 
Since the publication of Linné’s ‘‘Sestema Nature,” 
no attempt has been made to deal with all living 
forms of animal life, yet the number of known 
species has, since that period, increased so 
inordinately, that the want of a comprehensive 
review has become but too painfully apparent to 
all working zoologists. It is therefore proposed 
to issue a concise exposition of the animal 
kingdom, by the review and delineation of all 
the species that are now living or have become 
extinct within historic times, and of their systematic 
groups, which will serve as basis and starting- 
point of all future systems. This large under- 
taking will express the present condition of our 
knowledge, and will be based on a treatment which 
will partake of the nature of both criticism and 
compilation. To ensure the completion of the 
enormous material within a reasonable time, it 
has been decided to divide the work among 
a large number of specialists, which will at 
the same time give each division or group 
_ the highest possible scientific standard. The 
uniform treatment of the various subjects will 
be controlled by a number of carefully planned 
rules and regulations. For the naming of 
forms and systematic groups, the rules adopted 
by the German Zoological Society will be strictly 
adhered to; for abbreviations of names of authors 
the Berlin list will be taken as basis. The work 
will be under the general editorship of Geh. Reg. 
Rat., Prof. Dr. F. E. Schulze, who will be 
assisted by a committee composed of the President 
of the German Zoological Society and Geh. Reg. 
Rat., Prof. Dr. K. Mébius and a number of editors 
for the chief divisions of the animal kingdom. The 
following divisional editors have already been 
appointed: Professor F. Blockmann, of Rostock, 
for Brachiopoda; Professor Oscar Boettger, of 
Frankfurt -on- Maine, for Batrachia; Professor 
M. Braun, of Kénigsberg, for Platyhelminthes ; 
Professor O. Biitschli, of Heidelberg, for Protozoa ; 
Professor C. Chun, of Breslau, for Cnidaria and 
Ctenophora; Professor F. Dahl, of Kiel, for 
Arachnoidea; Professor C. W. von Dalla Torre, 
of Innsbruck, for Hymenoptera; Professor L. 
Doederlein, of Strassburg, for Mammalia ; Professor 
E. Ehlers, of Géttingen, for Bryozoa; Dr. 
W. Giesbrecht, of Naples, for Crustacea; A. 
Handlirsch, of Vienna, for Rhynchota and Neur- 
optera; Dr. W. Kobelt, of Schwanheim, for 
Mollusca; H. J. Kolbe, of Berlin, for Coleoptera ; 
Dr. H. Krauss, of Tibingen, for Orthoptera; 
Professor R. Latzel, of Klagenfurt, for Myriopoda ; 
Professor J. Mik, of Vienna, for Diptera; Dr. G. 
Pfeffer, of Hamburg, for Fishes; Professor A. 
Reichenow, of Berlin, for Birds; Professor F. E. 
Schulze, of Berlin, for Porifera; Dr. A. Seitz, of 


Frankfurt-on-Maine, for Lepidoptera; Professor J. 
W. Spengel, of Giessen, for Vermes, exclusive of 
Platyhelminthes and Tunicata. A further list of 
specialists for the minor divisions is given, several of 
which, however, are also editors of the primary 
divisions. In addition to the well-defined species 
the work will include the enumeration of in- 
sufficiently described and dubious species, as well 
as sub-species and varieties, important stages of 
development, alteration of generations, and 
specially remarkable biological conditions. The 
geographical distribution will be given under each 
species, together with the principal literature, and 
a complete list of synonyms, so that the work when 
complete will contain information on every name 
used in Zoology since the introduction of binomial 
nomenclature. To facilitate the grasp of the subject 
systematic synopses and numerous keys for the 
determination of groups and species will be added. 
To each separate division will be appended a list 
of abbreviations used, a systematic index, and a 
complete alphabetical register. On the completion 
of each group further indices will be given, and at 
the end of the whole work, a general index and 
general register. The language employed will be 
chiefly German, but in exceptional cases, English, 
French, or Latin may be used. The work will be 
published in parts, each of which will treat of 
one or more related groups, but they will appear 
independently of any systematic sequence. Thesize 
of the parts will vary, but will not in any case consist 
of less than three sheets. For some of the larger 
groups the number and size of the parts is already 
announced. For instance, the Platyhelminthes 
will consist of four, the Crustacea of eleven, the 
Hymenoptera of thirteen, the Mollusca of fifteen, 
the Reptilia of three, the Birds of sixteen parts. 
The completion of the work, it is estimated, will 
take twenty-five years. Each part can be had 
separately, and the price will depend on the size ; 
but to those who undertake to subscribe to all parts 
published during five years the price will be seventy 
Pfennig (about gd.) per sheet, and will be some- 
what less for larger parts, or a trifle more for 
smaller ones; the price for separate parts will be 
increased by one-third. The first part is promised 
for the commencement of 1897. In case of a 
sufficient number of subscribers being found, a 
separate edition, on writing paper, will be issued, 
as well as one printed on only one side of the 
paper. A specimen part has already been issued, 
treating of the Helicozoa, by Dr. F. Schaudinn, 
consisting’ of twenty-four pages including the index 
and a list of abbreviations of citations exclusive 
of those contained in the list of the Zoological 
Record. On considering the period over which 
the publication of this gigantic work is to be 
spread, one fact forces itself on the mind, /.c. that 
those parts issued towards the end of this period, 
to whichever divisions or groups they may happen 
to belong, must of necessity be more complete 
and up-to-date than those issued earlier, and unless 
appendices to those earlier parts be given, we fail 
to see how the absence of uniformity in this respect 
will be overcome. In whatever way those respon- 
sible for the production of this immense under- 
taking will deal with this question, there is no 
doubt that all zoologists, no matter in what part ol! 
the world, will be under a great obligation to the 
Zoological Society of Germany for initiating such a 
work, the utility of which can only be appreciated 
by those whose sphere of labour happens to be 
cast amongst the productions of the animal 
kingdom. 


24 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


hp 


U 


WHITE VARIETY OF COMMON CENTUARY.—With 
reference to Mr. Gardiner’s note (ScIENCE-GossIP, 
vol. ii., N.S., p. 272) I have often found Evythrea 
centauvium, with pure white flowers, in the 
neighbourhood of Cushendall, co. Antrim ; this is 
a sea-side locality —H. W. Lett, M.A., Aghaderg 
Glebe, Loughbrickland, co. Down. 


GYROMITRA ESCULENTA AT STAINES.—During 
an excursion of the Lambeth Field Club to Staines, 
on Easter Monday, April 6th, a fungus, which was 
at first thought to be a morel (Morchella esculenta), 
was picked up on a grassy island in the middle of 
a stream flowing into the Thames. Since then it 
has been identified as a specimen of Gyvomitra 
esculenta, a closely allied form, but of very rare 
occurrence in Britain. In this species the pileus is 
lobed and irregular, with a hollow interior, and 
the stem is short, widening at the base, and having 
a whitish downy (villous) covering. Some doubt 
exists as to the desirability of treating this species 
as an esculent, in spite of its specific name.—F. P. 
Perks, 41, St. Martin’s Lane, Charing Cross, W.C. 


FRUITING OF AURACARIA.—A fine specimen of 
Auyracaria imbricata, twenty feet in height, well 
furnished with branches down to the ground, in a 
cottage garden on the north road from Newry, 
co. Down, produced fine fruit-cones in 1894. As 
they were a novelty to me I was interested in 
observing them as I drove that way from time to 
time. J hoped they would have come to perfection, 
but though the locality is only a hundred feet above 
sea-level and well sheltered, the prolonged frost of 
1895 affected this tree so severely as to kill all the 
branches except a few at the very top ; in fact, the 
tree is now a most unsightly object and as good as 
dead. Other Aurvacaria trees of which I know, and 
in more elevated and exposed situations, are still 
flourishing; so, perhaps, the effort to perfect its 
fruit made this Newry tree more susceptible to the 
effects of the cold of last year.—H. W. Lett, M.A., 
Aghaderg Glebe, Loughbvickland, co. Down. 


_ ATROPHY OF TREE-BRANCHES.—Mr. Carrington 
in his article on “‘ Atrophy of Tree-branches”’ (vol. 
ii., N.S., p. 281), desires that exceptional cases may 
be recorded. Frequently when threading my way 
through the pine-wcod at Esher, in Surrey, fora 
few hours’ work in the Black Pond, I pass a case of 
fasciculation in Pinus sylvestris where this growth is 
very noteworthy. It occurs near the tree-top, and 
is not, | am afraid, very accessible for study, unless 
with the aid of climbing-irons. It is, however, 
worthy the careful observation of any person 
interested, who may find himself in the neighbour- 
hood of the pond. The tree is situate a short 
distance from the round-house, and can scarcely be 
missed.—George T. Harris, London, S.W. 


ATROPHY OF TREE-BRANCHES.—AS you invite 
discussion on your paper on ‘“‘ Atrophy of Tree- 
branches’ (SciENcE-GossIP, vol. ii., N.S., p. 281), 
I should like to make a few comments. After 
mentioning a remarkable mass of twig growth ona 
Scotch fir you say that ‘‘ these abnormal bunch-like 


growths are caused by a condition of atrophy in 
the growth of the branch.’ Surely this kind of 
growth would be more truly termed hypertrophy, as 
there is really no want of life, nourishment or 
growth in the branch, only that the latter is 
changed in form. These abnormal growths are 
usually caused by gall-mites or fungi. ‘‘ The bird- 
nest-like masses,” often known as witches’ brooms, 
sO common on birch trees, are caused by one of 
these gall-mites (Phytoptus spec.) which infest the 
buds and feed on the young leaves within them, 
stopping their growth to a certain extent and also 
that of the shoots. In consequence, the buds break 
into much shorter shoots than usual. The buds on 
these also being attacked, a dense mass of twigs is 
soon formed. The witches’ brooms on fir-trees of 
various kinds are the result of the tissues of the 
trees being infested by certain fungi, see Kimer 
and Oliver’s ‘‘ Natural History of Plants.’”—Geo. S. 
Saunders, 20, Dents Road, Wandsworth Common. 


CHICKWEED WINTERGREEN.—Among other things 
which came under my notice in 1895, as being above 
average, was the large number of seed-producing 
plants of that interesting representative of our 
indigenous flora, Trientalis europea. Although 
there might not have been more plants in flower 
than in other seasons, more of them succeeded in 
ripening their fruit. It has been customary for me 
to find many of the seed-vessels of this plant falling 
to the ground when the flowers fade, but there has 
always been some portion which has produced 
fruit. Being one of the most beautiful of our native 
flowers, and a comparatively provincial one here, 
not appearing in the warmer parts of Britain, the 
matter of its bearing fruit may be worthy of being 
noticed, as I have certainly seen mention in some 
standard work that it does not readily or abundantly 
produce seeds. This, doubtless, is governed in 
general by the area within which observations are 
taken of plants, the nature of one season from 
another being also a factor in this direction, the 
variations of the seasons causing variations in the 
development of plants. Some, of course, are more 
easily acted upon than others, and it would be 
interesting to know where in course of its range and 
in what proportion it produces seed.—W. Wilson, 
Alford, Aberdeenshire. 


Prussic AcID IN VEGETABLE PuysioLocy.—Of 
the various substances which enter into the compo- 
sition of the plant body, the proteids are beyond 
doubt the most important. They are the charac- 
teristic constituents of the protoplasm with which 
life itself is so closely associated. The problem of 
how these complex bodies are elaborated from the 
simple food stuffs available to the plant has long 
been a riddle to physiologists and still is one of the 
darkest processes we have to deal with. A step 
forward, however, is marked by the valuable contri- 
bution which Dr. M. Treub has recently made to 
the subject. He has investigated the formation 
and distribution of hydrocyanic acid in the tissues 
of one plant (Pangium edule), and although, with 
scientific caution, he refrains from drawing gene- 
ralisations from this one case, thoroughly though 
he has examined it, he has yet succeeded in laying 
a firm and sure foundation for future work in a 
subject which may be said to have as its final 
reward the explanation of the secret of life. For 
who can deny that in the chemistry of protoplasm 
lies hidden the mystery of life? Proteids are 
compounds of such simple elements as carbon, 
oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulphur, which, 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. “ 


however, are bound together in an almost incon- 
ceivably complex manner. We know that the 
green leaves manufacture carbohydrates (com- 
pounds of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen) from 
carbonic acid gas and water under the influence of 
sunlight. We are also aware that the roots absorb 
from the soil the nitrates (compounds of oxygen 
and nitrogen) which, thanks to micro-organisms, 
have appeared there, and that the sulphur com- 
pounds of soil enter the plant by the same route. 
In other words, we know that within the plant are 
present materials, available as food, which contain 
between them the same elements as a proteid; but, 
starting from this consideration, we have hitherto 
been unable to explain any of the steps which lead 
to the formation of the complex organic nitroge- 
nous compounds from these substances. Pfliiger 
long ago (1875) held the purely hypothetical view 
that there was a close connection between the 
proteids of living protoplasm and cyanogen, in fact 
that in living proteids the nitrogen was associated 
with carbon in the form of cyanogen (in which two 
atoms of carbon are united to two atoms of nitrogen). 
Treub has now made it certain that in Pangium edule 
hydrocyanic or prussic acid (carbon, hydrogen 
and nitrogen united together) is the first visible 
nitrogenous compound to appear in the constructive 
processes. He has found that both in the cortex 
and pith of the stem there are special cells particu- 
larly rich in prussic acid. This substance can also 
be detected in the pericycle. In the leaves it is 
usually to be found in all the parenchyma cells, in 
the flowers and fruits it is also present. The great 
channel along which hydrocyanic acid moves from 
part to part of the plant is the soft base or phloem. 
If the outer layers of the leaf-stalk be cut through, 
or conduction in any other way hindered, an 
accumulation of prussic acid takes place in the 
‘blade of the leaf whilst none of the acid can be 
detected for some distance below the point of 
section. By acareful study of such cases as these, 
it could be definitely established that hydrocyanic 
acid is formed in the leaf and conveyed away to 
other portions of the plant by the soft bast. 
Another interesting fact that was determined was 
that those special cells of the cortex or pith, filled 
with prussic acid in their earlier days, became 
the seats of proteid accumulation in later times. 
Among the factors necessary for the formation of 
prussic acid, two were found to be absolutely 
essential (1) That carbohydrates be present; 
(2) That a supply of nitrates be forthcoming to 
the leaf. Light it was found was not directly 
necessary. Treub employed the ‘‘prussian-blue 
test,’ familiar to all chemists in ascertaining the 
presence or absence of hydrocyanic acid in any 
tissue of the plant. The position, then, that we 
have reached through Treub’s researches, is that in 
Pangium edule, prussic acid—a comparatively simple 
compound—is the first visible nitrogenous organic 
body to be synthesised in the plant ; whether this 
is the case throughout the vegetable kingdom or 
whether it is the plan adopted in this single instance 
only, or in one or two other plants as well, remains 
for the future to decide. Any who feel interested 
in the subject should certainly refer to Treub’s 
original article (‘‘Sur la localisation, etc., de l’acide 
cyanhydrique dans le Pangium edule’’ Ann. du 
Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg. Vol. xiii., 1895, 
pp. 1-89), or to the report of the Paper he read 
before the British Association at Ipswich last year, 
or to the admirable summary in the ‘‘ Botanische 
Zeitung” (Bot. Zeit., No. 7, 1896, p. 102).—Rudolf 
Beery, Elmwood, Bickley, Kent. 


LEPIDOPTERA IN Norway.+—-Can any one tell me 
through the pages of ScizNcE-Gossip what lepidop- 
tera I am likely to find near the Nordfjord in 
August, and if there are many species then out in 
that region ?—(Rev.) J. M. Hick, Trimdon Vicarage, 
Trimdon Grange, R.S.O. 


ELEPHUS AFRICANUS.—Can any reader imform 
me through your pages where I might be able to 
obtain some information relative to the occurrence 
of Elephus Africanus in the fossil state in England ? 
If so he would greatly oblige.—J. H. Cooke, 123, 
Monks Road, Lincoln. 


PIED-WAGTAIL IN WINTER.—An _ apparently 
solitary specimen of the pied-wagtail is spending 
the winter here and is constantly to be seen 
searching for food in the garden and about the 
buildings. Is it not somewhat unusual for this 
bird to be found so far north at this time of the 
year.—Vernon B. Cvrowther-Beynon, The Grange, 
Edith Weston, Stamford ; February gth, 1896. 


LittLtE Auk IN SussEx.—As an addendum to 
Professor Newton's article on page 1 of the last 
volume of ScIENCE-GossIP, it is perhaps worth a 
note in your pages, that a group of eight specimens 
of this bird was exhibited at West Croydon Hall, 
by Mr. Thorpe, the Croydon taxidermist, last 
autumn, which had been taken near Hastings 
during the great frost in the early months of 1895.— 
Ed. A. Martin, 62, Bensham Manor Road, Thornton 
Heath. 


PREHISTORIC HuMAN JEMAINS.—In a note 
(ScIENCE-GossIP, vol. ii., N.S., p. 313). Mr. Kane 
remarks that it is curious that no reference to 
the interesting find of prehistoric human remains 
near Le Puy, Auvergne, is made by writers 
of antiquity of man. He appears to have over- 
looked Lyell’s ‘‘Antiquity of Man” in which 
there is a pretty full account (3rd ed., 1863, p. 
194). Scrope, in his ‘‘Geology and Extinct Vol- 
canoes of Central France (2nd ed., 1858, p. 
182), also mentions the subject, and gives two 
sketches of the spot where the fossils were found.— 
W. J. Atkinson, 76, Christchurch Road, Streatham Hill, 
London, S.W. 

WHERE NOT TO Finp CoaL.—A sentence in your 
review of the ‘‘ Missouri Geological Survey’’ reminds 
me of the attempt which was made last year to find 
coal in Silurian strata at St. Kilda, Melbourne, 
Australia. An old lady left a considerable sum of 
money for the boring to be made with this object 
in view. Certainly it cannot be said that coal has 
never been found in Silurian rocks, but on the 
other hand it does not seem credible that anyone 
with any pretence toa little geological knowledge, 
would have had atrial boring made for coal through 
strata of that age. As the author of the survey 
says, a very little study of the strata soon deter- 
mines whether or not the rocks of any given district 
are likely to furnish coal. The Silurian strata of 
St. Kildare did not.—Ed. A. Martin, 62, Bensham 
Manor Road, Thornton Heath. 


26 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


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pM VBOKN 


GEOLOGY 
SS ey ~ 


GEOLoGy AT BEeLFast.—We have to record a 
remarkable week of geological studies conducted 


by Professor G. A. J. Cole, M.R.1.A., F.G.S., 
of the Royal College of Science for Ireland, 
which terminated at the end of March. A 
paper on the structural details of the Antrim 
rhyolites, read at the microscopical meeting of the 
Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club, commenced the 
course, lantern-slides showing the microscopic 
character of local lavas, varied by others of 
rhyolitic areas in other parts of Great Britain. 
The scheme included six excursions for the 
study of geology in the field, three hours each 
evening being devoted toa class on petrography, 
necessarily limited to a dozen students, resem- 
bling a ‘‘special course’ at the Dublin College 
of Science. 

The first field excursion was to Squire’s Hill, 
where the series of Cretaceous quarries were visited, 
Professor Cole pointing out and explaining the 
methods in which the many dykes had intruded 
through the sedimentary rocks; also drawing the 
attention of his students to the difference between 
the Irish Cretaceous series and that of England, 
showing the persistence of upper chalk fossils such 
as Belemnitella mucronata through the limestone to the 
base of the glauconitic chalk, whilst the general 
paleontological characters suggested that the 
chalk must represent the Senonian, the greensand 
the Turonian, and the somewhat barren lower beds 
(which, however, furnished Pecten quinquecostatus 
and other characteristic fossils) belonged to the 
Cenomanian series. A visit to the basaltic quarry 
led the party across Carr’s Glen to the Cave Hill 
quarry, with its great dyke showing horizontal 
columns, which traverses the chalk and the over- 
lying basalt. 

The second excursion made an early start for 
Stewartstown, involving a walk of ten miles 
through fine rolling country, passing Tullahoge, 
and on to Tullyconnell for the Permian strata that 
are so rare in Ireland. The survey memoir 
describes a section on the roadside, but this is no 
longer visible, a block below the road, nine or ten 
feet long, and a poor exposure in an adjacent cottage 
garden, being all that now remains. The rock is very 
fossiliferous. The Castle Farm quarries at 
Stewartstown furnished fossils from the Carboni- 
ferous Limestone, some pits in the lower coal 
measures being passed on the return drive to 
Dungannon, 

On Friday the party walked from Dundonald, 
among the interesting partially-cemented gravels, 
full of travelled pebbles, by the old road to 
Scrabo, a halt being made by the way to visit 
and photograph the Kemp stone. Professor 
Cole utilised the pause for lunch on the slope of 
Scrabo, whence a glorious prospect was obtained 
of Strangford Lough and the distant coast of 
Antrim, by explaining how this outlier of Triassic 
sandstone was formed by the slow sinking of 
shallow-water lakes, a parallel being found in the 


present condition of the Great Salt Lake in America. 
Saturday was devoted to the rhyolitic area, 
which has been specially studied by Professor 
Cole for some years, and magnificent weather 
favoured the party as they drove from Doagh to 
Sandy Braes, and proceeded to visit the innumer- 
able exposures that are found over the charming 
heathery moorland, where the glassy lavas of the 
old volcano are displayed in marvellous variety. 
The causes of this variety were fully explained by 
Professor Cole, who said that hitherto geologists 
had sought for acid lavas from Hungary or Lipari, 
and only a few realised the stores that lay decom- 
posing on the hilltop around Tardree. Lunch at 
the southern quarry on Tardree was followed by 
a walk across Carnearny Brae into Antrim, visit- 
ing a hole where the rock showed singularly large 
felspar crystals found by Mr. A. G. Wilson, and 
an interesting boss of glassy rhyolite, with both 
spherulitic and perlitic structure, discovered by 
Professor Cole some time ago. 

The geologists made a fresh start on March 23rd, 
the place selected being Barney’s Point, near 
Magheramourne, where abundant Lower Lias fossils 
were obtained. Fragments of Rhaetic rock led 
Professor Cole to point out that these Liassic beds 
had probably slipped forward over the lower 
strata. Crossing the backbone of islandmagee, 
the party inspected the fine basaltic cliffs at the 
Gobbins, longing for the access to their face 
which will be given, should the walk projected by 
the Northern Counties Railway Company ever 
be constructed. The return to the ferry showed 
the opposite hills blue with approaching rain. 
Yet splendid weather favoured the final excursion 
on the following day, which included a visit to 
the mountain range of Mourne. The dykes south of 
Newcastle, which traverse the uptilted Ordovician 
strata, frequently traversed themselves by later 
dykes, were visited, Professor Cole demonstrating 
their age by explaining that the Mourne granite 
which cut through them was of the same age as the 
rhyolites of Antrim. 

The party subsequently ascended by the Bloody 
Bridge and Glen Fofany, when another address 
taught the students that many so-called moraines 
were in reality great detrital fans of mountain 
débris. Mr. La Touche (Geol. Survey of India), who 
was with the party throughout the week, described 
the making of such a fan in the Himalayas in a 
few hours, when a mountain torrent swept every- 
thing before it, spreading a mass of mud and stones 
over the lower ground, the river at first flowing 
over its handiwork, and subsequently cutting 
through it. An ascent of Thomas Mountain, to 
see the fragment of the Ordovician strata that 
remains—a relic of the great sedimentary arch 
under which the molten granite gathered—was 
followed by a descent through the grounds of 
Donard Lodge. 

The value of such a week cannot be over- 
estimated; and any field club that has such a 
chance to offer to its members well deserves 
itsname. This is the third time that the Belfast 
Club has been fortunate in securing instruc- 
tions from Professor Cole, and the importance 
of such continuity is manifest. The presence 
of members of other clubs recalls pleasantly 
the recenty-founded Irish Field Club Union, with 
its useful plan of admitting members of other 
clubs who may be temporarily in a strange place 
to the honorary membership of the club of the 
locality. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 27 


== 


TRANSACTION 5 


(\ etl anal 


- 


RoyaLt METEOROLOGICAL Society. — At the 
meeting of this Society on Wednesday evening, 
March 18th, Mr. E. Mawley, President, in the 
chair, Mr. Frederic Gaster, F.R.Met.Soc., of the 
Meteorological Office, delivered a Lecture on 
‘‘ Weather Forecasts and Storm Warnings, how 
they are prepared and made known,”’ which was 
illustrated by numerous instruments, diagrams, 
and lantern-slides. Mr. Gaster said that in the 
preparation of forecasts the position held by the 
barometer was so much more important than that 
of any other instrument that its action must be 
fully comprehended if the rest of the work was to 
to be at all clearly understood. The lecturer having 
fully explained this, referred to the use of a single 
isolated instrument, and showed how new light was 
thrown on the observer who could have telegraphed 
to him simultaneous observations from a large 
number of places scattered over a considerable area 
of the earth’s surface. The kind of variation in 
the distribution was dealt with, isobars were drawn, 
and the phenomena which they exhibit in the way 
of high and low pressure areas described. An 
explanation was given of the terms ‘“ cyclonic”’ 
and ‘‘anticyclonic,” and the generally opposite 
characteristics of these two systems were referred 
to. Mr. Gaster next drew attention to the obvious 
‘importance of the variation in the weather over a 
given area caused by alterations in the position of 
the cyclonic and anticyclonic systems, and the 
importance of the fact that the former tended to 
move round the latter from left to right. This led 
to some remarks on the indications observed when 
disturbances were advancing towards our islands 
from different points. Attention was drawn to 
secondary systems, both of high and low pressure, 
the forms they assume, and their effect on the 
weather which, but for their presence, would 
probably have accompanied their primaries; and 
the necessity for allowing for such systems in 
sending warnings to our coasts. The lecturer 
then remarked on the value of auxiliary informa- 
tion, such as is to be obtained from decided changes 
in the direction of the wind, sudden changes of 
temperature, the movements of clouds at different 
levels, observations made at high level stations, 
and telegrams from the United States. Mr. Gaster 
next explained how the information is made known 
to the public. Forecasts are issued by the 
Meteorological Office in the Daily Weather Report, 
and also communicated to the press, etc. Hay 
_harvest forecasts are issued to certain selected 
authorities who circulate them as much as possible 
in their neighbourhood. Storm warnings are 
telegraphed to our coasts with instructions to hoist 
the cone—point up—when the gale is probable 
from northerly to easterly points, and point 
down, when from southerly to westerly points. 
In conclusion, the lecturer drew attention to 
the marked improvement which had occurred in 
these warnings in recent years, and to some of 
the occurrences which from time to time caused 
failures. 


THE SoutTH LonpON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND 
NaTuraL History Sociery.—February 27th, 
Mr. R. South, F.E.S., President, in the chair 
Mr. A. E. Waters, B.A., of Cambridge, and 
Mr. J. A. Lucas, B.A., of Kingston-on-Thames, 
were elected members. Mr. R. Adkin exhibited 
specimens of Hybernia leucophearia, from Abbotts’ 
Wood. The pale and dark-bordered were found in 
equal proportions and only one black specimen 
was taken. Mr. Short, a bred series of Acronycta 


myvice, with a dipterous and a series of hymenop- 
terous parasites, /chnewmon fuscipes from its larve. 
Mr. Dennis, two living females of Vespa germanica, 
taken in February. Mr. Perks, two living 
specimens of Rhagium inguisitor, L., from Epping 
Forest. Mr. McArthur, communicated notes on 
the occurrence and life-history of Coccyx cosmo- 
phorana, and Retinia resinella. He said that the 
former was always more or less common at 
Rannoch, where the latter was unknown. As far 
as he had observed the larve of the former did not 
in Scotland feed in the way described by Kalten- 
bach. He was convinced that the larve did not 
normally feed on the refuse of RF. vesinella, but that 
it did so at Forres he was perfectly certain. A 
long discussion ensued, during which it was 
suggested that R. vesinella had not abstracted all 
nourishment from its food, which was hence 
available as pabulum for C. cosmophorana, and so 
presumably the latter species had different habits 
in different districts. Mr. Billups then read a 
Paper entitled ‘‘Hymenopterous and Dipterous 
Parasites reared by Members of the Society during 
1891-2,’ and exhibited in illustration a large 
number of species with the hosts they had preyed 
upon.—March 12th, the President in the chair. 
Col. Partridge exhibited bred specimens of Phigalia 
pedaria, from Epping, of a unicolorous grey with 
dark nervures; a specimen of Agvotis puta, having 
alternate dark and pale bars; and the specimen of 
Hadena albifusa, taken by him at Portland, August 
15th, 1888. Mr. South, bred specimens of P. 
pedavia, from a black female taken at Macclesfield. 
The males were of the same form as those of Col. 
Partridge, but most of the females were black. 
Mr. Adkin, specimens and sections of the nodules 
of Retinia resinella, to illustrate remarks made at 
the previous meeting. Mr. Frohawk, bred male 
and female of Nyssia lapponaria, the ova having 
been obtained from Mr. Cristy, the female was 
alive. Mr. West, of Greenwich, a female N. 
hispidavia, taken in West Wickham Woods. 
Mr. Lucas, a carding spider taken at Hampton 
Court. Mr. Barrett, the series of the various 
species of the genus Dianthecia, from his own 
collection, including every shade of both D. 
carpophaga and D. capsophila, from various British 
localities ; D. barretti, with Continental D. /uteago for 
comparison, and the only known Welsh and 
English examples; D. cesia, with Continental forms 
for comparison ; D. albimacula, from Dover, Folke- 
stone and Portsmouth; two drawers from the 
cabinet of Mr. Sydney Webb, containing the same 
species, and including the two D. compta from the 
late Mr. Bond's collection; and also Mr. Adkin's 
series of Dianthecia. In the discussion which 
ensued, Mr. Barrett considered D. carpophaga and 
D. capsophaga, as one and the same species, he was 
convinced that D. barretti was but an extreme local 
form of the Continental D. /uteago, and felt almost 
inclined to say that there never was a British 
specimen of D. compta. Messrs. Adkin and Tutt 
preferred to consider the first-named as closely 
allied species possessing extreme parallelism in 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


their range oi variation. Various members testified 
as to the doubtful origin of British D. compia. 
Mr. Hall said that he always found D. carpophaga 
larve on Lychnis respertina, and scarcely any on 
Silene. Mr. McArthur gave instances of how 
D. conspersa always resembled the colour of rocks 
or walls on which it sat in various districts. 
Mr. Tuit said that D. cucubali was the only member 
of the genus which came to sugar, and that it was 
also double brooded.—Hy. J. Turner (Hon. Report Sec.) 

Norte Lonpon Naturat History Society.— 
Meeting on Thursday, March 12th, 1896, Mr. C. 
B. Smith, President, in the chair. Mr. C. S. 
Nicholson, of ‘‘Elmsleigh,” Tottenham Lane, 
Hornsey, was elected a member of the society. 
The Amphipyridz were shown by Messrs. Prout 
and Bacot, and the former genileman also exhibited 
specimens of Teniocampa ot miniosa, bred this year 
from Chaiienden larve. Mr. Bacot had recenily 
seen a bai flitting about Cheapside. Mr. L. Jj. 
Tremayne drew attention io an article by Mr. Tui, 
in the February number of “‘ The Eniomologisis’ 
Record,” on the nomenclature of the Zygzeninz. 
Assuming Mr. Tait io be correct, he rather agreed 
with his view that it was high time thai naiuralisis 
should iake io naming this family correcily, and he 
suggested that the society, which is at present 
bound by the *‘ Eniomologist * list, shonld consider 
the advisibility of revising its nomenclature. Mr. 
C. Nicholson opened a discussion on The 
Amphipyridz. He illustrated his remarks with 
specimens of the family, including Mania maura 
from Hale End, and var. virgaia. Healso exhibited 
a pair of wings of each species denuded oi their 
scales, in order io show the neuraiion, and some 
explanatory drawings. He explained the nomen- 
claiure of the family, and proceeded io deal with 
the species in all their stages. He alluded to the 
neuration of ithe imagines, and said that Mania 
maura bad an extta nervure. He also touched on 
the various classifications of the family by different 
authors. Mr. Proui disapproved of the genus 
Amphipyra, the species of which he thought were 
ceriainly generally distinct. Mr. Bacot remarked 
that the young larva of Pyramidza is certainly a 
looper when it first leaves the egg-shell —On 
Saturday, April zith, the society visited the 
Zoological Gardens, Regent’s Park. The parity 
met im the Insect House, and afierwards visited 
most of the other objects of interest, especially 
attractive being the young gorilla (Anihropopithecus 
gorilla), and chimpanzee (A. ivoglodyies), also the 
manatee. Many other objects were discussed, and 
several specimens of the moth Bision hiriaria were 
found on irees in the gardens during the afternoon. 
The gardens are always atiraciive io naiuralisis, 
bui are especially well worth visiting at this season 
oi the year.—Lawrence J. Tremayne (Hon. Sec-_) 


Greenwich Naturait History Socirry.— A 
meciing was held on February 5ih, 1806, Mr. 
Andrew Kerr, President, in the chair. Dr. Calder 
exhibited a number of laniern-slides—many of 
them prepared by Proiessor Glaisier, of Glassow— 
of bacieria that are inimical io man. Mr. M. FP. 
Dunlop exhibited living and mounied specimens of 
Desmids, Rhizopoda, Infusoria, Roiifera, and Enio- 
mosiraca. The Secretary gave a demonsiraiion of 
the remarkable optical properties of the Japanese 
Magic Mirror. (Illustrations of about tweniy 
different designs of mirror-backs were thrown on 
the screen, and seven Japanese mirrors were shown, 
several of which exhibited the magical phenomenon. 
—G.W. Niven, Hon. Sec., 27. Brymner Sireet, Greenock. 


NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS. 


The NEw Votume (Volume III.) of Scrence- 
GossiP commences with this number, the Pub- 
lishers having decided not to issue the March, 
April and May numbers, which have fallen into 
arrear. The issue for June will therefore be 
numbered 25, to maintain the sequence. This 
course is adopted in order to bring information up 
to date, and to ensure in future the publication of 
the Magazine regularly on the 25th of each month. 

Susscrietions for Volume III. will commence 
with the Jane issue. 


NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 


To CorRESPONDENTS AND EXCHANGERS.—SCIENCE-GOSSIP 
is published on the 25th of each month. All notes or other 
communications should reach us not later than the 18th of 
the monih for insertion in the following number. No com- 
munications can be inserted or noticed without full name 
and address of writer. 

Noticz.—Coniribuiors are requested to strictly observe the 
following rules. All contributions must be cleazly written 
on one side of the paper only. Words intended to be 
printed in ttalics should be marked under with a single line. 
Generic names must be given in full, excepting where used 


immediately before. Capitals may only be used for generic, 
and not speciiic names. Scientific names and names of 
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Tse Ediior is not responsible for unused MSS., neither 
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Tse Editor will be pleased to answer questions and name 
specimens through the Correspondence column of the maga- 
zine. Specimens,in good condition, of not more than three 
species to be sent at one time, carriage paid. Duplicates 
only to be sent, which will not be returmed. The specimens 
must have identifying numbers attached, together with 
locality, date and particulars of capture. 

Att editorial communications, books or instruments for 
review, Specimens for ideniincation, cic. to be addressed to 
o=Nn T. CarRincTon, z, Northumberland Avenue, London, 


iC. 


EXCHANGES. 

Noticz.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including 
name and address) admitied free, but additional words must 
be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words 
or less. : 

Cuczoos’ =£GGs with those of foster parent wanited.— 
W. Wells Bladen, Stone, Siafiordshire. 

A FEW nests and imagines of Pelopzus #avipes (ithe 
American mud-dauber) in exchange for other species.— 
Harry Moore, 12, Lower Road. Rotherhithe, SE. 

OFFzZRED, “ Handbook of Geological Terms” (very rare) in 


exchange for “Prehistoric Europe,” “ice Age.” or other 
standard geological works—J. H. Cooke, 223. Monks Road, 
Lincoln. = 


Exotic. European and British Lepidoptera for others.— 
Rey. j. M. Sich, Trimdon Vicarage, Trimdon Grange. 
R.S.O. 

OQFFZRED. ion Slides of upper chaik (polyzoa) for the same 
number of lower cretaceous forms, or sitident’s microscope 
worth noi less than £3 3s—W. Gamble, 2, Wesi Sireeci, New 
Brompion, Kent. 

For exchange, ine specimens of Fluor spar (blue John), 
amorphous, m crystals, purple or banded, many varieties: 
also fine carb, limestone fossils, many species. Desiderata. 
Nauitili om all formations and good ammonites, particularly 
from Wealden and greensand——W. F. Holroyd, Greenfield, 
near Oldham. 

Scizxcz-Gossir, 1875 io 1887 inclusive, excepting Augusi, 
i875. What offers:—J. F. Greenway, 11, High Sireet, West 
Bromwich. > ; 

Siies, teleutospores, fungi, and others offered: wanted, 
posiage stamps (including many off old or foreign letters and 
parcels), insects, other slides, etc—Dr. Bryan, Thomlea, 
Cambridge. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 29 


MOSSES AND HEPATICS OF MOURNE MOUNTAINS. 


By Rev. H. W. Lett, M.A., M.R.I.A. 


apt Mourne Mountains in the County Down 

have been introduced to the readers of 
SCIENCE-GoSSIP (SCIENCE-GossIP, 1895, p. 85) as 
worthy of a visit from tourists who are phanero- 
gamic botanists. But they are even still more 
worthy of the attention of students of the crypto- 
gamic flora of this country, as I hope in some 
measure to show in this paper. 

Mosses, hepatics, lichens, fungi, fresh-water 
alge, desmids and diatoms abound in and about 
the Mournes The whole district is a veritable 
happy hunting-ground for such. It is not too 


k. Welch, Photo.) 


much to assert that in no other part of the 
kingdom are so many species, more especially of 
the first two families just mentioned, to be found 
within easy access of a railway station and 
excellent hotel accommodation. 

There are extensive sand-dunes, several miles of 
sea-side rocks, wooded glens through which tumble 
mountain streams, wild stretches of boggy moor- 
lands intersected by long deep valleys with their 
rivulets, and elevations—more or less rugged—up to 
2,796 feet altitude, with a few lakelets. So that 
every variety of suitable habitat for these lovely 
forms of vegetation exists within the area. 

The investigation of the cryptogams of this 
district has not been altogether neglected in the 
past, though doubtless there is still much to be 


Jury, 1896.—No. 26, Vol. III. 


NEWCASTLE AND SLIEVE DONARD. 


done., Mr. Templeton, of Belfast, a well-known and 
accomplished botanist and zoologist at the begin- 
ning of the present century, made some notes on 
the mosses and hepatics which will be found in the 
North-East of Ireland—‘ Flora’’ and Supplement 
(published in 1888-95)—while in recent years Mr. 
S. A. Stewart, F.B.S.E., of Belfast, editor of this 
“Flora”; the Rev.C. H. Waddell, Mr, J. J. Andrew, 
and the present writer, have collected mosses and 
hepatics in various parts of these mountains. A 
large portion of the results of their work is 
recorded in the above-mentioned ‘ Flora," and ina 


4] 


Belfast. 


‘‘ Report on the Mosses, Hepatics, and Lichens of 
the Mourne Mountains,” by H. W. Lett, read before 
the Royal Irish Academy, and published in the 
“ Proceedings” of that body in 1890 (pp. 265-326). 
As I still have a few copies of this Report to spare, 
I shall be glad to post one to any person sending 
me his address with two-pence for carriage. It 
contains a full list of all the localities. 

Some of the fungi have been recorded in a “ List 
of the Fungi of the North of Ireland,’ by H. W 
Lett, published in the ‘‘ Proceedings "’ of the Belfast 
Naturalists’ Field Club, Appendix, 1884-85. And I 
may mention that Mr. W. West, of Bradford, 
Yorkshire, has, from time, examined 
squeezes and scrapings which I sent him from the 
Mournes, and furnished me with a list of the fresh- 


Cc 


time to 


30 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


water alge, desmids and diatoms which he 
identified in my material. This I hope shortly to 
publish. On the present occasion, my remarks 
will be confined to the mosses and hepatics. As I 
use the nomenclature adopted in Dr. Braithwaite’s 
“British Moss Flora,’ I shall omit the author’s 
names. 

The view of Slieve Donard, which is the highest 
mountain in Ulster, is reproduced, by permission, 
from a photo taken by Mr. R. Welch, of Belfast. 
It gives an excellent idea of the proximity of the 
mountain to the town of Newcastle and the sea, the 
great cairn on the summit being only three miles 
from the parish church. In the sand-dunes there 
is strong evidence of the presence of golfers, 
but passing through their links, the botanist will 
meet, among the mimic mountains of sand, with 
Tortula vuralis, var. avenicola, Bryum proliferum, Mollia 
micvostomum, Grimmia canescens, Climacium dendroides, 
Brachythecium albicans, Hypnum cordifolium and 
Pallavicina hibernica. And at the extreme northern 
edge of the sand-hills inside the ruins of Dundrum 
Castle (which of itself is well worth a visit) will be 
found Eurhynchium pumilum. A little way up the 
Shimna River, not far from the railway station at 
Newcastle, have been found Ovthotrichum vivulare 
and Brachytheciuwm velutinum. 

Near the centre of the village of Newcastle the 
road is cut through a black basaltic rock, one of 
the numerous dykes that traverse the Mournes. 
This is known to the villagers as ‘‘the Rock; and 
on the top of it stands the parish church of St. 
John, built by an Earl Annesley. On the sides of 
the rock cutting occurs Mollia littoralis. Following 
this route on past the ruinous harbour, the road 
skirts the sea, with Slieve Donard towering above. 
The rocks here produce Grimmia maritima, Mollia 
inclinata, Hypnum cupressiforme, var. lacunosum, and 
Blindia acuta. About a mile and a-half from New- 
castle, on the old walls of the Bloody Bridge, I 
have gathered Barbula brevifolia and Zygodon viri- 
dissimum, vax. vupestre. 

After these preliminary rambles, attention will 
be turned to the mountains. The demesne of 
Donard Lodge, which runs round the base of Slieve 
Donard, is not very productive of either mosses or 
hepatics. In it, however, will be found Bryum 
alpinum as low down as one hundred and fifty 
feet. The higher parts of it, where the larch 
and Scotch-fir and spruce show by their stunted 
growth that they are on the verge of their region, 
are well worth searching, especially above the 
harbour, where I have found some rare plants, and 
in the neighbourhood of the ice-house. 

The stream which bounds and slides down its 
rocky channel in this demesne is the White River. 
It can be followed for two miles up the glen, 
between Slieve Donard and Slieve Commedah, and 
at the upper end of it the adventurous will have an 


opportunity of exercising their skill in scrambling 
and climbing. 

The streamlet which joins the White River close 
to the ice-house should be followed up to the rocks 
known as the Black-stairs. Here, after rain, there 
is a considerable waterfall in a-narrow chasm. 
This and the surrounding rocks I have found to be 
the best moss-ground in the district. It faces the 
north, is protected from the sun’s rays, and is 
always cool and more or less moist. | Mosses and 
hepatics are everywhere, and on every stone and 
rock. From this locality the top of Slieve Donard 
is invisible, being shut off by the projecting 
shouldet, designated Thomas’s Mountain, on the 
rocky face of which several rarities have been 
found. From Thomas’s Mountain to the base of 
the cone of Slieve Donard is a stretch of boggy 
moorland where I met with many species that did 
not come under my notice elsewhere. 

Moss-tramping in the Mournes, as the writer 
knows from the experience of twenty-five years, is 
the delightfully quiet work that a botanist enjoys. 
Although so close to Newcastle, Rosstrevor and 
Warrenpoint, when one gets a mile away into the 
heathery region one seldom, if ever, meets with a 
human being. There are no roads, except the one 
through the Deer’s-meadow, no houses, no 
refreshment rooms, nothing to induce the mere 
noisy tripper. In all my rambles through these 
mountains I have not met (excepting the turf- 
makers in their season in the Deer’s-meadow) more 
than three persons. One was a gentleman who 
was descending by the Black-stairs from Slieve 
Donard and suddenly came round a rock from the 
face of which I had just secured a moss, and still 
had my sailor’s-knife open in my hand. He was 
so alarmed at suddenly meeting me, with the bare 
blade, that he took to his heels without a word, 
On another occasion, near Shanslieve, I was 
followed by a game-keeper, who, on coming up to 
me, watched my operations for some time till at 
last he scornfully remarked, ‘‘ Why, it is only fog 
you are lifting ’’—fog being a local name for moss 
—and he left me to go on my way. 

Though sheep-tracks are the only marked paths 
through the Mournes, there is no diffculty in 
making one’s way anywhere through them. The 
accompanying map will be of some use for this 
purpose. Those who desire a better guide should 
procure the Ordnance Survey Maps of Ireland, 
scale of one inch to a mile, Sheets Nos. 60 and 61, 
price one shilling each. 

The mosses and hepatics which I found on the 
Slieve Donard localities described above are as 
follows:—Sphagnum acutifolium and its vars. 
purpureum, rubellum, luvidum, arctum and versicolum, 
S. squarrosum with var. laetevirens, S. vigidum and its 
var. compactum, S. subsecundum, also var. contortum, 
S. papillosum, S. cymbifolium; Andreea petrophila 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 31 


and vars. acuminata and gracilis, A. alpina; 
Cathavinea undulata ; Oligotvichum incurvum ; Polytyi- 
chum subyotundum, P. nanum, var. longisetum, P. 
aloides, P. uynigerum, P. alpinum, P. piliferum, 
P. juniperinum, P. strictum, P. commune; Fissidens 
bryoides, F. osmundioides, F. taxifolius, F. adian- 
toides ; Leucobryum glaucum ; Ditrichum homomallum ; 
Dicranella heteromalla; Anisothecium squarrosum ; 
Campylopus atrovirens, C. brevipilus, C.  setifolius, 
C. fragilis, C. pyviformis, C. flexuosus ; Dicranoweissia 
civvata, Dircranum majus, D. bonjeani, D. scoparium, 
with var. orthophylla, also its var. alpestve ; Dichodon- 
tium pellucidum ; Onchophorus crispatus ; Ceratodon 


mn 


+, 
, 


7 
WP 
Sais 


h 
Ms, 


My, 


iat 
iM 


at 1727, 
Ws » 
3 

. os 


Soret 
SWAN 


SSE) 


iN 


J 


B. pallens, B. ventricosum, B. filiforme ; Mnium 
undulatum, M. hornum, M. punctatum ; Hedwigia 
albicans; Neckera crispa; Pterigophyllum  lucens ; 
Hetevocladium hetevopterum ; Thuidium tamaviscinum yi 
Isothecitum myurum; Bachythecium 
vivulave, B. viride, B. plumosum; Eurhynchium 
myosuroides, E. swartzii; Hyocomium flagellare ; 
Rhyncostegium tenellum, R. vusciforme; Plagiothecium 
denticulatum, P. borvevianum, P. sylvaticum, P. 
undulatum ; Hypnum revolvens, H. uncinatum, H. 
jilicinum, H. commutatum, H. falcatum, H. cupresst- 
forme, vars. jilifovme and ericetorum, H. molluscum, 
H. palustre, H. stellatum, H. sarmentosum, H. 


yvulabulum, B. 


Wroggics Leap 
rmaré Hole 


Wee 
Nis 


Dh eeu 


Map oF THE MourNE Mountains. 


purpureum; Mollia tenuivostvis; M.  verticillata, 
M. tortuosa; Leervsia contorvta; Webera sessilis ; 
Grimmia pruinosa, G. pulvinata, G. decipiens 


and var. vobusta, G. funalis, G. trichophylla, G. 
donnit, G. ovata, G. elliptica, G. aciculavis, G. 
aquatica, G. microcarpa, G. heterosticha, G. obtusa, 
G. affine and var. gracilescens, G. fascicularis, G. 
hypnoides ; Glyphomitrium daviesti, G. polyphyllum; 
Anoectangium mougeottit; Pleurozygodon compactum ; 
Orthotrvichum affine, O. diaphanum; Funaria hygro- 
metrica, F’. obtusa, F. templetoni; Tetraplodon bryoides ; 
Bartramia pomiformis, B. fontana; Pohlia acuminata, 
P. elongata, P. nutans, P. cruda, P. annotina, P. 
albicans; Bryum inclinatum, B. bimum, B. alpinum, 


B. argenteum, B. capillave, likewise var. magus, 


Cc 


cuspidatum, H. schreberi, H. purum; Hylocomium 
proliferum, H. squarrosum, H. loreum, H. triquetrum ; 
Frullania dilatata, F. tamarisct ; Lejeunia hamatifolia, 
L. ovata, L. serpyllifolia; Radula aquilegia; Anthelia 
julacea; Bazzania trilobata; Cephalozia bicuspidata ; 
Saccogyna viticulosa; Cincinnulus argutus; Scapania 
undulata with var. purpurascens, S. nemorosa, S. 
vesupinata, S. compacta; Diplophyllum albicans ; 
Lophocolea bidentata ; Coleochila taylori ; Jungermania 
quinguedentata ; Southbya obovata; Mesophylla com- 
pressa ; Marsupella emarginata, M. sphacelata; Alt- 
cularia scalaris; Acolea crenulata, A. obtusa; Pellia 
epiphylla; Aneura pinguis; Conocephalus contcus ; 
Marchantia polymorpha. 
(To be continued.) 


2) 
= 


32 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


GENERIC NAMES OF DIATOMS. 


By Rev. ApAM CLARKE SMITH. 


prem my connection with the’ Postal Micro- 

scopical Society, I know that a number of 
persons are interested in and are working at 
Diatoms, that most fascinating subject. They are, 
however, unless classical scholars, sadly hampered 
in their study with the nomenclature. For the 
sake of an acquaintance, I have translated, as far 
as I could, the generic names, and thinking that the 
list might be useful to others, I have offered the 
result to SCIENCE-GOssIP. 

These generic names were generally given from 
fanciful resemblances ; many are very happy, and 
help greatly to separate the class from others, but 
some are difficult to ferret out, or to perceive the 
resemblance. I have made out what I could; I 
have left the others as blanks, hoping that some 
readers may be able to hit the meanings; if so, I 
shall be very glad if they are sent to me that I 
may add them in some future number of this 
periodical. 

It will be at once perceived that I have not taken 
proper names of individuals, such as Kitton’s ; that 
of itself would form an admirable memorial of 
some of our leading Diatomists and scientific men, 
whether alive or dead. 

Some of my difficulties I have submitted to Mr. 
Grove and Mr. Nelson, but they seem as much 
puzzled as I am. Any one in London who has 
access to the library of the R.M.S. or to the 
University Libraries of Oxford and Cambridge, 
might discover the meaning, or the intention of the 
givers on first naming them. 

The specific names are more easily to be made 
out, being mainly derived from the Latin; whereas 
the generic are generally Greek combinations, and 
sometimes are very fanciful. 

The (g) after some words signifies that it is taken 
from the genitive case, as actis—a ray, genitive— 
actinos. : 


DERIVATIONS OF GENERIC NAMES OF 
DIATOMACE2. 


ACHNANTHES, sea-foam flower; achné—sea-foam, 
and anthos—a flower. 

ACHNANTHIDIUM, a small Achnanthes. 

ACTINISCUS, a rayed bag ; actinos (g), and ascos—a 
bag or bottle. 

ACTINOCYCLUS, a rayed circle; actinos (g), and 
cuclos—a circle. 

AcTINODIScUS, a rayed disk; actinos (g), and 
discos—a disk. 

Actinoptycuus, folded rays; actinos (g), and 
ptuchos (g)—a fold. 


ALLOIONEIS, a differently-sided boat; alloios— 
different, and neis = naus—a ship. 

AMPHIPRORA, rounded prow; amphi—around, and 
prora—a prow. 

AMPHIPLEURA, rounded sides ; amphi, and pleura— 
a rib. 

AMPHITETRAS, four-sided; amphi, and tetras— 
four. 

AMPHORA, a jar. 

ANORTHONEIS, not an ‘‘ Orthoneis.”’ 

ANTHopIScuUS, a flowered disk; anthos—a flower, 
and discos. 

ARACHNOIDIscUuS, the spider’s-web disk ; arachné — 
a spider, and discos. 

ASTEROLAMPRA, a Shining star; aster—a star, and 
lampros—shining. 

ASTEROMPHALUS, a star in the centre; aster, and 
omphalos—the navel. 

AULIscUS, a small reed or pipe. 

BACILLARIA, small rods. 

BaAcTERIASTRUM, a Star with rods ; bacterion—a rod, 
and astron—a star. 

CampPyLopiscus, a saddle-shaped disk ; campulos— 
bent, and discos. 

CAMPYLONEIS, a bent boat ; campulos—bent, and 
neis. 

CERATAULOS, horn tube; ceras—a horn, and 
aulos—a hollow. 

Crstopiscus, a girdled disk; cestos—Venus’s 
girdle, and discos. 

CHELONIODISCUS, a tortoise-shaped disk ; cheloné— 
a tortoise, and discos. 

CH@TOocEROS, a horned chest ; coiteé—a chest, and 
ceras. 

CLIMACOSPHENIA, a wedge-like ladder; clima- 
cos (g), and sphen—a wedge. 

CocconE!Is, a berry-like boat; coccos—a berry, 
and neis. 

COLLETONEMA, a filament of forms in mucus; 
colletos—glued, and nema—a filament. 

COSCINODISCUS, a sieve-like disk ; coscinon—a sieve, 
and discos. . 

Cosmiopiscus, a well-ordered disk ; cosmios—well- 
ordered, and discos. 

CrasPEpopiscus, a bordered disk; craspedon—a 
border, and discos. 

CRASPEDOPORUS, a bordered hole; craspedon, and 
poros—a hole. 

CYCLOTELLA, a small circle. 

CYMATOPLEURA, having swollen sides ; cuma—the 
swell of the sea, and pleura—a rib. 

CyYMBELLA, a cymbal ; cumbalon—a hollow basin. 

DENTICULA, a small tooth. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 33 


D1atToma, brittle-wort ; dia—through, and temno— 
to cut. 

Dictapia, double-branched ; 
clados— a branch. 

Dictyonelis, a netted boat ; dictuon —a net, and neis. 

Dictyopyxis, a netted box; dictuon, and puxis— 

a box. 

DirLoneIs, a duplex boat ; diplos—double, and neis. 

ENCYONEMA, a pregnant filament; encuos—preg- 
nant, and nema. 

Enpictya, netted ; en—in, and dictuon—a net. 

EnTOGONIA, an angle inside another ; entos—within, 
and gonia-—an angle. 

EpiITHEMIA, a small lid. 

Evucampia, well curved; eu—well, and campe—a 
bending. 

Evunotia, well-backed ; eu, and notos—the back. 

EvuNOTOGRAMMA, well-backed writing; eu, notos, 
and gramma—a letter. 

EvupHyYLLopivm, beautiful leaf; eu, and phullon— 
a leaf. 

Evpopiscus, a distinctly-footed disk; eu, and 
podos (g)—a foot, and discos. 

Evopia, distinctly swollen; eu, and oidos—a 
swelling. (If this be the right derivation, the 
word should be spelled Eucedia.) 

FENESTRELLA, a small opening or window. 

Fracivaria ; fragilis—brittle. 

GerpuHyRriA, a small bridge; gephura—a bridge. 

GLYPHODESMIS, glupho—to carve, 
and desmis—a bundle; or desmos—a fetter or 
chain. 

GrLypuHopiscus, a carved disk; glupho, and desmis 
or desmos, and discos. 

GoMPHONEMA, a filament of wedge-shaped forms; 
gomphos—a wedge, and nema. 

GONIOTHECIUM, a box with angles; gonia—angle, 
and thecé—a box. 

GRAMMATOPHORA, bearing an inscription; gramma, 
and phorus—bearing. 

GyrotycuHus, a round and folded form; guros— 
round, and tuchos (g)—a fold. 

HELIOPELTA, sun-shield; helios—the sun, and 
pelta—a shield. 

Hemiautus, half a sheep-pen; hemi—half, and 
aulis—a fold. (Like one side of a sheep-pen, such 
as we see on the Sussex Downs.) Or, aulos—a 
tube or pipe. 

Hemiunpiscus, half a disk; hemi, and discos. 

HETERODICTYON, a variable net ; heteros—different, 
and dictyon. 

HIMANTIDIUM, a small strap or thong. 

HyALopiscus, a transparent disk; hualos—trans- 
parent, and discos. 

ISTHMIA, a narrow neck. 


dis—twice, and 


IsopIscus, ; Isos—equal, level; and 
discos. 
LAMPRISCUS, lampros—shining, and 


ascos—a bottle. 


Liraviscus, lily-disk ; leirion—a lily, and discos. 

LicmopHora, the fan-bearer; licmos—a fan, and 
phoros. 

LITHODESMIUM, 
and desmos, 

MastTOoG Lola, a nipple-like mucoid mass; mastos— 
the breast, and gloios—glue. 

ME LosiRA, a filament of apple-like forms ; melon— 
an apple, and seira—a cord or filament. 

MERIDION, like the face of a clock; meridion—noon- 
day. 

MonopsiA, having one eye; monos—only, and 
opsis—eye-sight. 

Navicura, a little boat. 

ODONTELLA, a little tooth ; odontos (g)—a tooth. 

OponTIpIvM, a little tooth ; odontos (g). 

OMPHALOPELTA, a Shield with a centre ; omphalos, 
and pelta. 

ORTHONEIs, a Straight, symmetrical boat ; orthos— 
straight, and neis. 

OrTHOsIRA, a straight chain; orthos, and seira. 

PARALIA, 

PaRELION, like a mock-sun; parelios—a parelion. 

PrEponia, a melon; pepon. 

PINNULARIA, a small feather ; pinna—a feather. 

PLAGIOGRAMMA, inscription on the side; plagios— 
sideways, and gramma. 

PLEvROSIGMA, with sides like the Greek =; pleura, 
and sigma. 

Poposira, a footed chain; podos (g), and seira— 
alluding to the stalk, or stipes, by which the 
diatom is attached. 

PoposPHENIA, a footed wedge; same as podos in 
Podosira above, and sphen. 

Poropiscus, a pierced disk; poros—a passage, and 
discos. 

PorpEia, a Clasp, or buckle. 

PyrGcopiscus, a disk with a tower ; 
tower, and discos. 

PyxILiA, a little box ; puxis. 

RAPHONEIS, boat-shaped, with herring-bone mark- 
ings; raphé is the suture of the skull—herring- 
bone work; hence raphis—a needle: hence it 
may mean the clear line separating the two 
opposite sets of markings. 

RuHABDONEMA, a fillet of rods; rhabdos—a rod, 
and nema. 
RIPIDOPHORA, 

phoros. 

RHIZOSOLENIA, 
stem, and solen—a pipe. 

RuoicosicMa, a crooked letter =; rhoicos—crooked, 
and sigma. 

RHOICOSPHENIA, a crooked wedge; 
sphen. 

RutiLaria, a lovely folding; rutis—a fold, and 
laros—lovely. 

SCEPTRONEIS, a sceptre-like boat ; 
sceptre, and neis. 


- lithos—a stone, 


purgos.—a 


fan-bearing; ripis—a fan, and 


* riza—a root or 


rhoicos and 


sceptron—a 


34 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


SCHIZONEMA, a branching collection of boats; 
schizo—to divide, and nema. 


SCOLIOPLEURA, with crooked sides; scolios— 
crooked, and pleura. 
SKELETONEMA, ; skeletos—dried 


up, and nema. 

STAURONEIS, a boat with a cross; stauros—a cross, 
and neis. 

STEPHANODISCUS, a crowned disk; stephanos—a 
crown, and discos. 

STEPHANOGONIA, an angular or pointed crown ; 
stephanos, and gonia. 

STEPHANOPYXIS, a crowned box; stephanos, and 
puxis. 

STICTODIScUS, a spotted disk; stictos—spotted, and 
discos. 

STRANGULONEMA, a constricted filament; strangos 
—a strangling, and nema. (The filaments are 
constricted deeply, as though tied with thread.) 

STRIATELLA, a small ridge; stria. 

SURIRELLA. 

.SYNDETONEIS, a boat bound in another; sundetos 
—bound together, and neis. 

SYNEDRA, a joining together; sunedros—a sitting 
in council. 

SyRINGIDIUM, like a shepherd’s pipe; surinks—a 
pipe. 

SYSTEPHANIA, 
stephanos. 

TABELLARIA, a little tablet. 

TERPSINOE, heart-gladdening, 7.¢. musical. 

TetracycLus, of four circles; tetras—four, and 


; sus—together, and 


cuclos. 

TuHa.assiosira, sea-filament; thalassa—the sea, 
and seira. 

THALASSIOTHRIX, sea-hair; thalassa, and thrix— 
the hair. 

THAUMATODISCUS, wonder-disk; thauma—a 


wonder, a juggle (called from the ‘“ thauma- 
trope,” a child’s toy), and discos. 
THAUMATONEMA, wonder-filament ; 
nema. 
Toxonip1A, like a little bow ; toxon—a bow. 
TRICERATIUM, three-horned ; tris—trice, and ceras. 


thauma, and 


TriInAcriA, three-pointed; tris, and acron—a 
point. 
TROCHOSIRA, a wheel-like filament; trochos—a 


wheel, and seira. 


TROPIDONEIS, a twisted boat; tropé—a twist, and 


neis. 
TRYBLIONELLA, a little dish ; trublion—a dish. 
XANTHIOPYXIS. 
ZyGoceros, a horned yoke; zugon—a yoke, and 
ceras. 
I trust these explanations will interest some, and 
will help towards the understanding of these 
marvellous beauties of Nature. 


Eastmoor, Church Road, Bournemouth East; 
May, 1896. 


EFFECT OF FEAR UPON 
HERONS. 


N a former number (ScieNncE-GossiP, Vol. ii., 
N.S., p. 194), a correspondent describes one 
of a flock of partridges flying over a railway 
train, falling dead, apparently from fright. One 
September, a few years since, I had an opportunity 
of testing a statement I had frequently heard 
made when shooting over Irish bogs, namely, 
that a heron, when fishing for eels or frogs 
in a ditch or bog-hole, becomes paralysed if 
surprised by a person suddenly appearing on the 
bank above him, and shouting or gesticulating 
violently ; when they can be killed with sods or 
stones. On this occasion I was walking on a high 
bank bordering an estuary of a river running into 
Sheephaven, co. Donegal, in a gale of wind, and 
numerous herons, driven by the rising tide off the 
flats, were sheltering from the wind under it, and 
flying off from time to time almost from beneath my 
feet as I passed along. Suddenly I remembered 
the story of my gillies of days gone by, and resolved 
to put it to the test. Making a detour, I approached 
the shore further on where the bank was very steep 
and fringed with furze. On reaching the edge (for 
the high wind prevented my approach being heard) 
I saw a heron standing right beneath, and flapping 
my cloak and shouting, to my surprise it sat down 
and waited till I rushed down the bank. Shielding 
my face from its dangerous beak, I took it up and 
carried it to the field above. When put down it 
remained crouching in a sitting attitude on the 
ground watching me, and uttering occasionally a 
low croaking sound. When I went about ten yards 
off, it rose to its legs and walked deliberately to a 
furze bush and sat down under it. I then took it 
into the open field and threw it into the air as high 
as I could: it merely expanded its wings and 
pitched again and sat down.. Taking it to the 
shore I retired, and then it waded out till the waves 
lifted it off its feet, when to my surprise it paddled 
manfully against them for a while, but the 
wind drove it back. After some fifteen or twenty 
minutes of my rather cruel experiments, I left it 
where I found it, apparently paralysed with terror, 
but unhurt. It could spread its wings and the 
wing-bones were sound, and it was apparently 
uninjured in any way. Judging from the top-knot 
it was a young bird, but not of that year. 
W. F. DE V. KANE. 


Drumreaske House, Monaghan. 


We have received from Mr. R, Kanthack, 18, 
Berners Street, London, W., illustrated priced 
catalogues of astronomical and physical instruments _ 
made by C. A. Steinheil Sohne, of Munich. These 
catalogues are sent free, on application, to those 
interested. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. So 


SCIENCE AT THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY. 


By Joun T. CarrincTon. 


(Continued from page 5.) 


Sir RicHarD OWEN (1804-1892). 


HREE decades since, the name of Professor 
Owen was frequently before the public. Many 
wondrous things were attributed to his knowledge 
of anatomy and animal structure. Those times were 
towards the end 
of the days when 
the term ‘‘natu- 
ralist’? was as- 
sociated with 
museum’ speci- 
mens, and before 
the word ‘ biolo- 
gist” for the time 
being drove it 
out of fashion. 
Richard Owen 
was born in a 
house at the 
junction of Brock 
and Thurnham 


Streets, in Lan- Y 
caster, on the iM 
2oth of July, 1804. ll ) 


His father was a 
West India mer- 
chant, of Fulmer 
Place, Bucking- 
hamshire, where 
his grandfather 
had lived and 
acted as High 
Sheriff of the 
county. Owen’s 


ee a ain a A sn J 

woman of as \ 

rina overs ill i) 
rst experience 


of school was at 
the grammar 
school at Lancaster, where he went at the early 
age of six years. There he met, as schoolfellow, 
William Whewell, in later years a well-known 
writer on scientific subjects and the unfortunate 
inventor of the abominable word “‘scientist.’’ At 
school Owen never showed any brilliancy or taste 
for natural history, heraldry being rather to his 
bent, if he had any. 

In 1820, Owen was apprenticed to a surgeon- 
apothecary of Lancaster, his indentures being 


Sir RicHARD OWEN. 


transferred to two other surgeons before his time 
expired. Under the last of these masters he had 
to attend the county gaol to conduct post-mortem 
examinations, in which he soon became much inte- 
rested, developing apassion for anatomy. On leaving 
Lancaster, he entered the University of Edinburgh 

and attended, 
other 
studies, the lec- 
tures on anatomy 
by Dr. John Bar- 
clay, who, though 
not the Uni- 
versity _ profes- 
sor of anatomy, 
was a man of 
great ability and 
reputation. To 
his excellence in 
teaching com- 
parative anatomy 
Owen always at- 
tributed, in after 
life, his great 
success. Without 
waiting to take 
his degree, Owen, 
in 1825, removed 
to St. Bartholo- 
mew’s Hospital 
in London, where 
he went the 
bearer of a letter 
of introduction 
from Barclay to 
the noted Dr. 
Abernethy, who 
appointed him 
Prosector for his 
surgical lectures. 
In 1826 he passed 
for his Fellow- 
ship of the Royal 
College of Surgeons, and set up in private practice at 
11, Took’s Court, Carey Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. 
In 1827 he received, through Abernethy’s influence, 
the post of Assistant Keeper of the Hunterian 
Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, under 
William Clift, a devoted pupil and assistant of Dr. 
John Hunter. He it was who had lovingly cared for 
these collections from the time of the great surgeon’s 
death until they came under the custody of the 
Royal College. In 1829 Owen was appointed 


among 


36 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Lecturer on Comparative Anatomy at St. Bartholo- 
mew’s. At the Hunterian Museum he met Cuvier, 
and on his invitation went, in 1831, to Paris, where 
Owen attended the lectures of Cuvier and Geoffroy 
St. Hilaire, and worked in the dissecting rooms 
of that city. His first published paper appeared 
in ‘‘The Transactions of the Medico-Chirurgical 
Society,’ in 1830. In 1832 his ‘‘Memoir on the 
Pearly Nautilus’’ founded his reputation, and in 
1834 he became F.R.S. In 1833 he founded the 
‘Zoological Magazine,” but he soon severed his 
connection with it. 
been engaged to Caroline Clift, the only daughter 
of his friend and chief at the Museum, but it was 
not until 1835 that his prospects admitted of their 
marriage. In 1842 he was made joint Conservator 
with Clift, who soon afterwards retired, when Owen 
became wholly responsible, with J. T. Quekett as 
his assistant. 

In 1836 Owen was appointed first Hunterian 
Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology 
at the Royal College of Surgeons. Honours then 
began to fall fast upon him, including a civil list 
pension of £200 per annum, granted by Sir Robert 
Peel; and about that time it is said he refused a 
knighthood. 

Up to 1852, from his appointment as Curator of 
the Royal College of Surgeons, he had occupied 
small rooms in the College buildings; in that 
year, however, the Queen gave him the use of 
the cottage named Sheen Lodge, in Richmond 
Park, where he resided until his death. In 1853, 
Owen took his wife to Paris, and lectured in 
French at the Institute, Later, on his connection 
with the British Department of the Universal 
Exhibition, Napoleon III. created him a Knight of 
the Legion of Honour. This was not his first 
association with an exhibition, for he was a 
member of the Organising Committee of the Great 
Exhibition of 1851, and was destined to be later 
occupied at the building on its removal to 
Sydenham, where he suggested and carried out 
the design for the models of extinct animals still 
to be seen in the grounds at the Crystal Palace. 

In 1856, he was appointed to the specially 
created post of Superintendent of the Natural 
History Department of the British Museum. 
Previously the collections had been in charge of 
the principal librarian. The permanent staff at 
the Museum having hitherto been in a very in- 
dependent position, continued their work much in 
their own way, leaving the administrative work 
for Owen of the smallest. Instead of resenting 
this, he quietly settled down, free from financial 
anxiety, his salary being £800 a year, to study the 
vast material in the Museum, and his publications 
became most voluminous, though we doubt their 
great value for future generations. 

Owen was a man of strong views in some 


For some seven years he had . 


directions, and in him Charles Darwin found a 
steady opponent to his theory of natural selection 
as the origin of species; Owen following his 
courtier’s instinct in supporting the orthodox view 
of special creation. 

Richard Owen’s most useful work in his con- 
nection with the British Museum was his persistent 
application to the Government for more space for 
the collections than was available at Bloomsbury. 
In this he was well supported by the heads of the 
department, but it was not until 1881 that the new 
museum at South Kensington was open to the 
public, though he commenced his agitation in 1859. 
In 1883, his health had become a source of 
anxiety to his friends, and being in his eightieth 
year, at his own desire he resigned his position at 
the Natural History Museum, in which he was 
succeeded by the present director, Sir William 
Flower, K.C.B., F.R.S. In 1884, Owen was made 
a Knight Commander of the Bath, and his annual 
pension was augmented. He survived until 1892, 
when he died and was buried in the churchyard at 
Ham, near Richmond, where his wife had preceded 
him in 1873. 

It would be hardly in place in these sketches of 
scientific worthies to criticise Sir Richard Owen as 
a man of science. He was eccentric from some 
points of view, and a link between the old times 
and the new. He never fully appreciated the new, 
but clung tenaciously to the old. As an example 
of what we mean, we have only to compare what 
we remember of the natural-history department at 
Bloomsbury, with the magnificent galleries as now 
arranged at Cromwell Road, Kensington. 

The portrait of Sir Richard Owen hangs in Room 
xvil. of the Gallery. It was painted by H. W. 
Pickersgill, R.A., and represents Professor Owen in 
his academic gown holding in his left hand a 
nautilus shell. The portrait is about half life-size, 
at middle age, showing the black hair and: large 
black eyes which were so characteristic of his face. 
He changed considerably in later years, growing 
more massive in his features. 


Sir WILLIAM HERSCHEL (1738-1822). 


There are two pictures of this celebrated astro- 
nomer in the National Portrait Gallery, one in oil 
colours at the age of fifty years, the other in pencil. 
The former is about two-thirds life size, by Lemuel 
F. Abbot. It was purchased for the Gallery in 1860. 
He is represented simply by head and shoulders, 
dressed in a rich purple brown coat and wearing 
white stock and frilled shirt. His hair is grey, full 
at the back, and may have been a wig, though it is 
drawn as though natural. The pencil sketch is by 
Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A., and was purchased 
in May, 1891. It represents Sir William at an 
apparently earlier age than the oil-painting, as 
his face is far less full, 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 37 


Frederick William Herschel was born in Hanover, 
November 15th, 1738, of Protestant parents. His 
first Christian name was seldom used, and he was 
generally known as William Herschel only. His 
ancestors were long employed about the Hano- 
varian Court in various capacities, either in the 
gardens, or chiefly in the bands of music attached 


Sir WILLIAM HERSCHEL. 


to the regiment of Guards. William was engaged 
as hautboy player, but his health becoming 
shaken, he was made to desert his regiment by 
his parents, who shipped him off to England. 
Here he had a hard struggle for existence for the 
first three years of his residence, but fortunately 
he got the appointment of bandmaster of the 
Durham Militia, after which he became a music 
teacher at Doncaster, and conducted concerts in 
other parts of Yorkshire. In 1765 he was organist 
at Halifax, whence he went to Bath in the same 
capacity. There he studied harmony and mathe- 
matics after many a day of sixteen hours’ teaching. 
This led on to astronomy, and he hired a small 
reflector from a quaker optician. With his 
brother’s help, and some tools, in 1773 he set up 
his first telescope, and on March 4th, 1774, 
observed the nebula of Orion, a record of which 
is preserved by the Royal Society. 

From that time, by slow and laborious work, 
he steadily made his way as an astronomical 
observer, until the jointure he received with his 
wife, on their marriage in 1788, left him free for 
greater work. 

Herschel was a man in every way to be admired, 
gentle, cultured, earnest and painstaking in every- 
thing he undertook. Full ofsimplicity and kindness, 
he was ever ready to help others. His fidelity 
in friendship was notorious. It is related that in 
the midst of his busy life in Bath he left every- 
thing to search for a younger brother who had run 
away from home. 


At last there came the great necessity of those 
times, royal favour; it included, by the way, free 
pardon for his deserting the regiment of Guards 
and a Knighthood of the Royal Guelphic Order of 
Hanover, It is impossible here to enumerate all 
the astronomical achievements of Herschel—it would 
occupy pages ; the titles alone fill sixty-nine pages 
in the memoirs published by the Royal Society. 
He was virtually the founder of sidereal science, 
and he left records of 2,500 nebula, whereas 103 
were only known on his taking up the study of 
astronomy. All he did was with the aid of simple 
instruments slung on a scaffolding mounted on 
circular rails. He never possessed a transit instru- 
ment, nor an equatorial. He it was who first 
indicated the association of sun-spots and terres- 
trial weather, pointing out that the price of wheat 
rose when the spots were scarce. He died of 
bilious fever, 25th August, 1822, in his eighty- 
fourth year, and was buried at Slough. 

His only child, Sir John William Herschel 
(1792-1871) the first baronet, followed the path so 
ably directed by his father, with the advantage of 
improved instruments and the augmented know- 
ledge of both generations. He was unsurpassed as 
an observer. 


Dr. EDWARD JENNER (1749-1823). 
Edward Jenner is better known to the world as a 
medical man than an exponent of any branch of 
natural science. He it was who first practically 


HN Fl SAN 
aff \ Wh \¢ IN AN 


i [| | \ Wes \\ FAI \IYQQQ 
| {\\\ \ AN | yi) iN \ . \ \\ 
: WA ji) 


/ 
\\\ WA) 
\ Wl T/ 


Dr. EDWARD JENNER. 


applied what is now known as bacteriology to the 
alleviation of human suffering—for such was, 
unknown to himself, the discovery of vaccination 
as a preventive of smallpox. 

Edward Jenner was born at Berkeley, in 
Gloucestershire, where his father was vicar, on 
May 17th,1749. His mother's father had also been 


o3 


38 SCIENCE-GOSSIP- 


vicar there. His first school was at Wotton-under- 
Edge, and later he was removed to Cirencester. 
There he developed an active taste for natural his- 
tory,collecting plants, insects and fossils. On leaving 
school he was apprenticed to asurgeon at Sodbury ; 
and in 1770 he joined the famed medical school of 
Dr. John Hunter, in London. There he showed 
his considerable capacity for true scientific investi- 
gation, apart from collecting. Hunter took much 
interest in his pupil, and carefully directed his 
studies ; he introduced him to Sir Joseph Banks, 
whose material, collected on Cook’s voyage, 
Jenner overhauled and assisted in preparing for 
museum purposes. In 1773 he returned to 
Berkeley and commenced practice as a surgeon. 
There he continued his studies of the local natural 
history. In 1788 he was elected a Fellow of the 
Royal Society. He became locally fashionable, 
partly on account of the care bestowed on his 
personal appearance, as well as for his professional 
ability ; so in 1792 he took his M.D. degree at 
St. Andrew’s, and gave up surgery. 

About the end of the eighteenth century, Jenner 
continued his investigations systematically into the 
influence of cow-pox upon smallpox in human 
beings. After much correspondence with Dr. 
John Hunter, he, on May 14th, 1796, vaccinated 
James Phipps, a boy of eight years old, with 
lymph taken from a pustule of cow-pox on the 
hand of Sarah Nelmes. The boy had cow-pox, 
and on the 1st July following, the boy was inocu- 
lated with the virus of smallpox, which did not 
take. Jenner’s notes and manuscript description 
of this experiment, though never published, is 
treasured at the Royal College of Surgeons. 

Dr. Jenner spent some months of the summer of 
1798 in London, where he tried in vain to get some 
one to be vaccinated. A month or so after he left, 
however, Dr. Cline, of St. Thomas’s Hospital, 
vaccinated several patients with lymph given him 
by Jenner. Then followed much opposition from 
the medical profession, and a long course of 
further experiments by Jenner. The practice 
slowly made its own way. To read of its tardy 
but steady adoption by the people and the medical 
profession is most instructive in view of what is 
taking place in other directions at the present 
time—the mistakes that were made, the ignorant 
and wilful misapplication of smallpox virus to 
bring discredit on the new discovery; then the 
period of success, the honours and presents 
showered upon Jenner, including a grant from 
Parliament of no less than £10,000, which was 
followed by another grant of £20,000 in 1806. His 
wife died in 1815 at Cheltenham, where he 
practised as well as at Berkeley ; but he soon after 
retired to the latter village, where he resided until 
he died on 26th January, 1823, in a fit of apoplexy. 
Jenner was buried in the chancel of the parish 


church, his house having adjoined the church- 
yard. 

Sir Thomas Lawrence painted a portrait of 
Dr. Jenner; but that in the Gallery, of which a 
sketch is given here, is by James Northcote. It 
was engraved in stipple by Ridley in 1804. A 
marble statue is his memorial in Gloucester 
Cathedral; one in bronze is in Kensington Gar- 
dens, whither it was removed from Trafalgar 
Square, whilst portraits of him on the Continent 
include a statue in bronze at Boulogne-sur- 
Mer. 


SIR JOHN RICHARDSON (1787-1865). 


The present generation of biologists is apt to 
forget the services of their ancestors in the world 
of science. Few people are heard to discuss such 
men as Dr. John Richardson, who in his time 


SIR JoHN RICHARDSON. 


added much to the knowledge of the animals and 
plants of Arctic regions. He was an eminent 
voyager, physician and naturalist, who was born at 
Dumfries in 1787. 

After passing a medical course at Edinburgh, he 
joined the Navy as ship’s doctor, and saw service 
at Copenhagen, and other engagements. He then 
returned to his medical studies, and in 1816 
graduated M.D. at Edinburgh. In 1819, he volun- 
teered into the service of Captain John Franklin 
as surgeon and naturalist on Sir John Franklin’s 
first overland expedition. He again sailed with Sir 
John in 1825 in the same capacity, and conducted 
a separate exploring party on that occasion along 
the coast of the Arctic Sea, between the Mackenzie 
and Coppermine Rivers. On his return he con- 
tributed much valuable scientific information on 
subjects which were little understood. He was one 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 39 


of the first scientific botanists who visited the high 
North-West of Canada, and many of his records 
adorn the list of plants of that magnificent botanical 
region. The writer of these notes had the pleasure, 
in 1894, of discovering one handsome plant there, 
which does not appear to have been recorded since 
Sir John visited the district further north with his 
exploring party. 

Richardson's literary remains are considerable, 
perhaps the most important being ‘‘ Fauna Boreale- 


Naval Hospitals, and a physician to the Fleet. 
He was knighted in 1846, and in 1848 sailed in 
search of his great friend, Sir John Franklin. He 
died, universally admired by those who knew him, 
and beloved by his friends, in 1865, at Lancrigg, 
near Grasmere, where he spent in retirement the 
last ten years of his life. The portrait is one by 
Pearce, who painted a series of Arctic explorers 
for Lady Franklin, who presented the pictures to 
the National Portrait Gallery. 
(To be continued.) 


Americana.”’ He wasaC,B., F.R.S., Inspector of 
/ Nigh Peg (REE? RAO JO) IR Ie, 1 3) 
By G. CLARKE NUTTALL, B.Sc. 
HE wonderful adaptability which a living 


organism can show to an apparently hostile 
environment has been a matter of remark times 
without end. Again and again we have been struck 
by the presence of life where we should least have 
looked for it, and have been surprised by the 
marvellous way in which certain forms of life 
can become modified to enable them to grapple 
successfully with new contingencies. Indeed, this 
adaptability to environment is the sign proper of 
life, and on it alone has it been found possible to 
frame a satisfactory definition of the term itself. 

A new and striking instance of this power of 
adaptation has recently been brought into notice 
by a Government report issuing from Colombia, 
the north-west corner of South America. Writing 
from Santa Fé de Bogata, the chief town, Mr. 
Robert Thomson draws attention to a native tree 
which is capable of withstanding the action of fire 
to a most remarkable degree; indeed, it apparently 
prefers to be exposed to it, for it actually thrives 
better when it has been ‘“ under fire.’’ This quality 
enables it to live where other trees perish, as the 
following will show. A great part of Colombia 
and the north of South America generally consists 
of level plains almost interminable in extent, known 
as llanos or savannas, and estimated to cover 
nearly three hundred thousand square miles, an 
area more than three times as large as the whole of 
Great Britain. Here and there at long intervals 
low hillocks or mesas break the monotony of the 
plain, but so little are the inequalities of the surface 
that the llanos have often been likened to a sea of 
land. During the dry seasons of the year they 
become veritable deserts of dried-up vegetation 
and burning sand; the wild animals sustain life 
with the greatest difficulty, and the parched earth 
cracks into deep fissures. With the advent of the 
rainy season Nature revives: the plains spring into 
life—both animal and vegetable, the waters pour 
down, the rivers swell, and soon what had been a 


desert becomes a lake of rolling waters over which 
boats may pass for miles. Animal life suffers 
almost as much then from the too great abundance 
of water as it previously did from the drought. 
When the waters subside in October they are 
followed by a paradise of fresh green vegetation, 
which springs up into maturity almost like magic ; 
and the inhabitants of the plains, the Llaneros, 
come down from the low hills where they had 
retreated during the flood, driving down with them 
their vast herds and flocks to feed on the juicy 
pasturage. For a time all is well, but gradually 
the sun sucks up the moisture, the vegetation 
withers and then dies, and the drought again 
settles on the land. The herdsmen are accustomed 
at this time, when everything is as dry as tinder, 
to set fire to the heated grass, so that when the 
rains come a new growth shall spring up un- 
hampered by profitless remains of a past season. 

These savanna fires, miles in extent, sweep 
over the plains with devastating fury, destroying 
all in their path, and leaving behind them only a 
track of blackened ashes, which ashes, though 
giving back to the soil the elements which the 
plants took from it, do not enrich it to the same 
degree as would accumulations of leaf-mould 
formed from decaying vegetation. What isa gain 
in utility as far as pasturage is concerned is a loss 
in other ways, for the fire entirely checks the 
growth of trees or shrubs, and the land is bare of 
vegetation beyond the yearly yield of grass. 

One tree alone stands out a solitary and striking 
exception to the havoc wrought by the flames. It 
refuses to go under in the general devastation, and 
so well has it known how to protect itself, that the 
fire leaves it unscathed ; nay more, it has made the 
best of its lot, and bends the very flames to its 
service. Locally this tree is known as Chaparro, 
botanically it is classified as Riopala obovata. It 
belongs to a genus of trees and shrubs, most of 
which are also natives of South America. Its 


40 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


appearance is much what we should expect from 
one whose whole development has been a struggle 
against desperate odds. It is dwarfed in stature, 
rarely exceeding twenty feet in height, and its 
stunted trunk does not measure more than a foot 
in diameter. Its rugged branches are twisted and 
bent into grotesque shapes, which speak plainly of 
a mute, sullen resistance. The leaves clothing the 
branches are course, rough, and hard in texture. 
The flowers grow in small spikes, insignificant and 
without beauty; they have no need to appeal to 
the eye of either man or beast. Each flower 
produces two seeds in a leathery pod-like case; the 
whole tree is built on a resistant plan. Each seed 
isa flat oblong, and has attached to it a membranous 
wing. The flowers develop after the rainy season, 
and the seeds mature during the great drought. 
When the fires rush over the plains the pods have 
burst, and the hot currents of air catch up the 
little winged seeds and carry them along, scattering 
them far and wide, Thus the tree effects its aim— 
the dispersal of its seeds through the agency of the 
flames, and the short exposure to the heat does not 
injure their dry tough nature. The presence of 
wings in seeds which rely on the wind as a carrier 
is not at all uncommon; the pine, for instance, 
provides its seed with a comparatively large wing, 
and pine-seeds are often carried great distances. 
When the chaparro seeds germinate they are found 
to have been scattered in wonderful order and 
without crowding, a result probably due to some 
regularity of the flame currents, and the planta- 
tions that form are most noticeable for the 
systematic arrangement of the trees; in fact, they 
have every appearance of having been planted and 
kept by man’s agency. This is a fact which 
strikes particularly on the attention, for so often 
where nature is left to herself, we have terrible 
overcrowding and a most desperate battle for the 
survival of the fittest. 

Why is this tree so remarkably adapted for the 
fight with fire? The secret lies in the peculiar 
bark which covers it likea skin. Bark arises on 
trees from the dried-up outermost tissues of the 
stem being rejected and pushed off, as the stem, in 
its natural course of growth, forms new tissue 
from within. In no trees has the outer portion of 
the bark any organic function; when retained it 
always serves a purely protective purpose. In the 
chaparro this outer bark to the thickness of about 
half an inch, is arranged in loose layers, and it has 
become thickened and modified to such a degree 
that the protection against ordinary dangers is 
extended to the case of fire. In addition to being 
practically fire-proof, its arrangement in the loose 
layers renders it a non-conductor of heat, and 
therefore the delicate inner tissues of the tree 
remain unharmed during the scorching but brief 
onslaught of the savanna fire. 


The home of the chaparro is emphatically these 
fire-swept plains. In Colombia its plantations 
cover vast areas; they are found touching the sea- 
coast on the north, and again a thousand miles 
inland; they may be on the level plain or high up 
on the surrounding hills at an elevation of a 
thousand feet or more. It is at a disadvantage, 
however, in situations where other trees can live; 
it can defy the fire, but it succumbs in a struggle 
for existence with others of its kind. All its energy 
appears to have gone in the fight with its one 
particular foe. 

The natives of Tolima, one of the United States 
of Colombia, credit the chaparro with yet another 
virtue. They assert that it will only grow where 
there is gold in the soil below, and that, therefore, 
it serves as a true guide to the seeker after riches. 
This belief, however, rests at present only on 
tradition, for though it undoubtedly grows in 
auriferous regions, it has yet to be proved that it 
grows in no others. 

This humble fire-proof tree is bestowing great 
benefit on the land, and is slowly improving it. 
The plantations are a protection against the fierce 
rays of the sun, for under their shelter it is not 
possible for the land to be so parched; moreover, 
they attract what little moisture there is in the air, 
and so the chaparro plantations, during the dry 
season, almost play the part of oases in the desert. 
Mr. Thomson points out that the chaparro’s work 
in the amelioration of the land might easily be 
accelerated and extended were man to step in and 
assist nature by a ‘“‘ few simple devices.”’ 

The chaparro is not the only tree which can 
resist, to a very great extent, the action of fire, 
though, probably, to no other is the fire so 
congenial, and, therefore, it may be fairly claimed 
as the ‘‘ king of fire-proof trees.” Certain euphor- 
bia trees, close allies of the chaparro, have been 
noticed in Africa to survive the grass-fires with 
only a few scorches. It was surmised that here 
too the secret of their immunity lay in their bark, 
and specimens were submitted to Professor Farmer 
for examination. His report confirmed this idea. 
In it he states that all pieces submitted ‘‘ agree in 
possessing cells which show a certain amount of 
gummy degeneration of the cells in the bark, 
together with the presence of a considerable 
amount of sclerotic cells”’; and his conclusion is 
that ‘‘it seems not impossible that these two facts 
may be connected with the resistance of the plants 
to the fire.” 

1, Charles Street, Leicester ; May, 18096. 


M. A. Hermann, of 8, Rue de la Sorbonne, 
Paris, has sent us his catalogue of botanical and 
zoological books, comprising works in all languages, 
which occupies seventy-eight pages, varying in 
price from ninepence to fifty pounds. This will be 
found useful to many of our readers, as titles 
appear that are not often seen in English catalogues. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


UTILITY OF ENGLISH NAMES. 


T was the custom of a lovable humourist, now 
unhappily, no longer with us, to clearly indicate 
when he intended his remarks to be considered as 
a joke. In case of any possible misunderstanding 
on the part of some who may read these lines, they 
are intended ‘to be so writ.’ It has occurred to 
me that during the transition period through which 
we appear to be passing, whilst our lepidopterolo- 
gists are extricating themselves from the delightful 
chaos they are bringing about our ears in the 
scientific names of some very common butterfliesand 
moths, we humble outsiders might do worse than 
revert to the time of Moses Harris and whisper 
about the ‘Queen of Spain,’ the ‘Emperor,’ the 
‘Duke of Burgundy,’ the ‘Painted Lady,’ or the 
‘Mourning Cloak,’ and other eminent butterfly per- 
sonages. These names are dreadfully unscientific, 
but they remain intelligible to some of those people 
who sign as an affix to their names the letters 
F.E.S., meaning in this instance ‘fellows easily 
satisfied.’ I am told it is expected by some of these 
F.E.S. that the time will come when there will be 
uniformity among lepidopterologists with regard 
to nomenclature. In the interval it is rather 
trying to the nerves of those who have, at ‘much 
labour and expense,’ acquired some four thousand 
learned names for British butterflies and moths, 
including genera—which, fortunately, we rarely 
think necessary to use—to find in every new book 
and monthly magazine an unfamiliar name, either 
generic or specific, for, say, our old friend the 
‘Admiral’ or ‘Admirable’ butterfly. By the way 
that suggests even English names to be a little 
uncertain. What ave we todo? Suppose there be 
formed a Committee to give entirely new names 
all round to everything on the principle of ‘rub 
out and begin again.’ For the present that goodly 
company might consist of Messrs. Tutt, F.E.S., 
South, F.E.S., W. F. Kirby, F.E.S., and Meyrick, 
‘with power to add to their number.’ I feel sure 
such a Committee would work most harmoniously, 
and soon build up an entirely new scheme of 
nomenclature. If, unfortunately, friction did arise, 
‘the power to add’ would soon provide an 
arbitrator, even if he were brought all the way 
from America, where unity exists—even if only in 
States and not in scientific nomenclature. 

When we come to review this question, as it has 
extended over the past thirty years, the results 
seem to be most discouraging. The whole point of 
it appears to rest upon the question of priority. 
One would not have imagined that it could have 
taken the critical entomologists thirty years to have 
unearthed, searched through, and generally collated, 
the published authorities for first names of butter- 
flies and moths attached to descriptions which are 
recognizable. JouN T. CARRINGTON. 


41 


AQUATIC. HYMENOPTERA. 
By Frep. Enock, F.L.S., F.E.S. 
Sick my last communication concerning these 

insects (SciENCE-Gossip, June. page 11), I 
have, after very many fruitless journeys, at last 
been successful in capturing a few specimens of the 
strange Hymenopteron, Pyestwichia aquatica, which 
Sir John Lubbock first found (and christened) in 
1862, when he observed six swimming about ina 
basin of water taken from a pond at Chisle- 
hurst. Mine were accompanied by twenty-one 
Cavaphractus cinctus, Haliday (=Polynema natans 
Lubbock), which were flying about or swimming 
with their wings under water, Prestwichia using its 
legs for perambulating about. Such a slice of luck, 
I imagine, has never before fallen to the lot of any 
entomologist, and I can only account for it in this 
way, viz., that upon the weed taken from the pond 
was a cluster of eggs of some aquatic insect, from 
which these parasites emerged. 

I kept my specimens alive for three or four days, 
and noted how industriously they searched the 
weed, ‘‘sounding”’ with their antennz every leaf 
and stalk for the right egg, but found it not. 

I have also found one or two Caraphyactus cinctus 
in three different ponds widely apart. The secret 
of success in finding these creatures is a very large 
amount of patience and luck, for my request to the 
‘‘Quekett Pondists’’ has already born fruit, as on 
May 30th, on the occasion of the club’s fortnightly 
field-day, one of the members, Mr. D. J. Scour- 
field, dipped a fine female Prestwichia aquatica. 

The male still remains unknown; this 1 am not 
surprised at, for of some of these minute terrestrial 
Hymenoptera I have swept up hundreds of one kind 
—in one instance over six hundred, every one a 
female. No doubt the male is of a modest and 
retiring habit, or perhaps apterous, and does not 
wander away from the eggs out of which his partner 
will emerge. 

As both of these aquatic insects are now proved 
to be double-brooded, we have every reason to 
hope that ere long we may have the pleasure of 
introducing the male. 

The great heat which we are now experiencing is 
most favourable to the development of these minute 
parasites, many of the terrestrial species are partial 
to crawling up windows and greenhouses facing east. 
In such places, it is an easy matter to brush them 
into a phial of spirits of wine in which they are well- 
preserved, though some of the more delicate ones 
are apt to collapse. The art of setting out 
the antennz, legs and wings is only to be learned 
after endless failures, but the insight we obtain 
into every detail of the marvellous structure of 
these atoms of perfection fully compensates for the 
time spent. 

21, Manor Gardens, Holloway, N.; June 13th, 1896. 


42 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


CHARACTERISTIC BRANCHING OF BRITISH FOREST-TREES. 


By THE Rev. 


W. H. Pourcuas. 


(Continued from page 16.) 


THE BIRcH. 


le its early life, especially when vigorous, the 

birch (Betula alba, Linn.) is often of bushy 
growth, A stifftwigs arising from each node 
or joining, and showing little tendency to become 
pendulous. Gradually, as the stem and branches 
increase in length and as the twigs produced are 
less thick and robust than at first, these latter 


ay } 
\ DE aye 
/ J Cs Sf 
SW AAA 
Wig \\ [| 
\\i } 
Bircu. Late SUMMER STATE. 


Barren Catkin for next year. 
(2) Fertile Catkin enclosed in bud. 


assume more of the pendulous character which 
gives so much elegance to the tree and which has 
earned for it the title of ‘‘ Lady of the Wood.” 

The arrangement of the leaves in the birch is not 
two-ranked as in the elm and beech, but isa spiral, 
whose fourth leaf ranges over the first, and thus 
each leaf and consequently its resulting leaf-bud or 
shoot, diverges frem its nearest neighbour, whether 
above or below, at an angle of 120 degrees, i.e. one- 
third of the circumference of the stem: thus the 
twigs or branches arise at more uniform angular 
distances around the stem than where the arrange- 
ment is two-ranked, although the internodes which 
separate them is often considerable. 

As to the position of the flowers. The birch is 
moncecious, 7.¢. the staminate and pistillate flowers 
are produced by the same individual tree, but 


grouped in separate catkins asin the beech. The 
barren or staminate catkins are terminal, formed 
towards the close of each summer at the tip of the 
yearly shoot. They have no protecting bud-scales, 
and they continue exposed through the winter ready 
to expand in the following spring. At first sight 
the catkin or group of catkins seems to be lateral 
> and opposite to the upper- 
Aa most leaf, but on exami- 
4 nation it is seen that 
although turned towards 
one side it is really 
terminal, its stalk being 
the true continuation of 
the axis. This turning 
to one side allows the 
uppermost axillary bud 
to stand at the tip of the 
shoot and to perform the 
office of growing point ; 
hence the shoot to which 
it gives rise in the next 
season is continuous in 
direction with the pre- 
vious growths. 

The fertile or pistillate 
catkins, on the other 
hand, are lateral, and are 
enclosed in axillary buds, 


a the scales of which do 
l" RAY not unfold and disclose 
te the young catkin to view 


NG until the following spring, 
at which time the barren 
catkins also open. These 
winter-buds are formed in the axils of leaves some- 
what low down the year’s shoot. 

The pistillate catkin, with its stalk, is really the 
axis of a spur or short shoot with undeveloped 
internodes, as is seen by the two or three leaves at 
the base of the catkin stalk. In the axil of one or 
more of these leaves buds are formed which, in 
another season, continue the growth of the spur 
and produce other pistillate catkins. After some 
seasons, however, these spurs gradually die off and 
leave those portions of the branches bare. The 
buds which give rise to leafy growth generally arise 
from the axils of the upper leaves of the shoot, 
and thus in the full-grown birch.the branches are 
bare in their lower portion, but terminate in tufts 
of lengthened drooping twigs. The angle which the 
branches make with the parent stem or branch is 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ess than forty-five degrees, and the twigs, which 
at first are slender and pendulous, often gradually 
raise themselves as their age increases and eventu- 
ally follow the same line as the other parts of the 
branch. 

Thus, then, in the birch we have a tree with erect 


BircH. SPRING STATE. a, Barren Catkin; b, Fertile Catkin. 


main stem, whose branches ascend at less than 
half a right-angle, often bare in their lower portion, 
but towards their extremities dividing into a 
number of subordinate branches, each of which 
bears its tuft of graceful pendulous twigs. 


(To be continued.) 


NEW BULEE REPLIES IN THE 
CANARY ISLANDS. 


By A. H. BECHERVAISE. 


N the October issue of SclENcE-GossiIP (vol. ii., 
page 207), I gave a short account of the 
butterflies of these islands, in which I said, ‘‘ It is 
a curious fact that the almost ubiquitous mimicker 
of the Danaidze, Diadema misippus, has not followed 
them to the Canary Islands.”’ 

At about the same time that the above remark 
appeared in print, D. misifpus put in an appear- 
ance in this island. Several specimens were taken 
at Orotava, and one near my house at Santa 
Cruz, by a lady who unfortunately killed it before 
I could plead for its life. So far as I know, all the 
specimens taken at Orotava were also killed by the 
acquisitive capturers. It seems a great pity not to 


43 


give this beautiful insect a chance to establish 
itself here. They are bold and friendly insects, 
and often accompany and hover round one in the 
most familiar manner. I particularly remember 
the charm their presence lent to many a walking 
and shooting excursion in lower latitudes. 

A communication in the Decem- 
ber number of ‘‘ Nature’ notices 
the appearance of D. misippus in 
Teneriffe, and the writer, in 
announcing the capture of two 
specimens at Orotava, says ‘‘ they 
were in such fine condition that 
they must have been introduced 
in the larval or pupal state, and 
emerged there.’’ I see no reason 
for such supposition. Throughout 
last summer, instead of the usual 
north-east trade winds, a long 
period of southerly and south- 
easterly winds prevailed, and the 
original visitors were most pro- 
bably wind borne from either the 
Cape Verd Islands or the adjacent 
African coast, where they are 
numerous. Their food-plants 
being plentiful here, fresh speci- 
mens would soon result. 

A few days ago I received a 
letter from a careful entomologist 
in England, in which he tells me 
that a young collector, who was 
here recently for a few weeks on his return 
to England, showed his captures to my corre- 
spondent for identification. He is acquainted 
with the Rhopalocera of the Canary Islands, 
and was surprised to find amongst them speci- 
mens of Arge galathea and Argynnis aglaia. These 
are stated to have been taken, both on the same 
day (Good Friday), in a rocky, treeless ravine 
near Santa Cruz. I have made enquiry, but can 
hear of no other specimens of these species having 
been captured or seen in this island, and consider 
that further confirmation is necessary before 
admitting their immigration. However, should 
their presence be established, it will further confirm 
the fact mentioned in my article of October last, 
that ‘the butterflies of the Canary Islands appear 
to have a direct relationship with those of North 
Europe, and not those of West Africa, as might be 


expected.” 
Santa Cruz, Teneriffe ; May, 1896. 


TEAL NESTING IN WORCESTERSHIRE.—It may 
interest some of your readers to know that on June 
r1th, I saw here a teal’s nest containing ten eggs, 
much incubated. Four years ago a brood of eight 
were hatched out in the same neighbourhood.— 
Rev. K. A. Deakin, Cofton Hackett, Worcestershire. 


44 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


NOTES OF A HOME NATURALIST. 


By Mrs. Emity J. CLIMENSON. 


Nee my last article was on Aydra fusca, I 

will put in a few notes as to further 
experience of them since last writing. On Feb- 
ruary 19th, Hydva No. 2 had fastened on a large 
Daphnia sheffevii which evidently contained eggs; 
to swallow such a large bonne bouche the mouth of 
the Hydva was enormously enlarged and the edge 
resembled the convolution of a convolvulus flower. 
Later in the day the Hydva had swallowed the 
Daphnia, but was greatly distended, the shape of the 
water-flea being plainly discernable inside, and the 
body of Hydra nearly transparent. Now since that 
I have seen some of my other Hydra feeding, 
notably on the occasion of Hydva No. 2 making 
such a ‘‘square meal,” as the Yankees say; she 
presented a much darker appearance, a sort of 
chocolate brown. She actually began to bud on 
February 20th; the next day the bud had tentacles. 
On February 23rd a second bud formed, and mother 
and buds were a dark colour contrasted. to the 
other Hydva in the same glass, who were cream 
colour. This may be taken as an evidence of the 
effect of a good diet. 

Another observation is that every Anacharis leaf 
(the favourite Hydra weed, apparently) gradually 
loses all chlorophyll, or green matter of its leaves, 
which become a yellow tissue. Even the stalks, 
where Hydra has long been attached, are sensibly 
impaired in colour ; from this one would deduct 
that the sucker or base of Hydra either derives 
nourishment, or its inherent poisonous nature kills 
the chlorophyll. The Hydva become, too, so like 
the bloodless leaves that they are most difficult to 
find. I also notice that when the water-spider 
tumbles round, the Hydva lay themselves against 
the leaves till they look part of them. Is this to 
avoid notice? That they are marvellously pro- 
tected by their resemblance to the duckweed-roots 
and faded Anacharis stems is evident to any daily 
observer. 

On February 24th the cold became great here ; 
ice formed in the bottles. To evade this all were 
covered with net; but on 26th the cold was so 
intense I brought the Hydva bottle indoors, and 
had to set it near the fire to unthaw, and afterwards 
in the window. All the other aquaria were 
covered with glass, rugs, etc., and despite of the 
cold and ice at the top and at sides of glass no 
inmates died. The Hydva looked very poor and 
weak after the unfreezing process. They were 
restored to outdoor life on the 29th, but some seem 
to have died. Out of seven I had, I only perceived 
three. They may have beeneaten. I also brought 
in an omnium gatherum jam-jar into the drawing- 


room, recently obtained for amusement. In look- 
ing by candle-light at it on the 26th, out of a mass 
of Spirogyra, etc., | perceived six pink mites the size 
and colour of a pale pink coral-stone in a gipsy 
ring. Whether they were prejudiciously influenced 
by the first frost, subsequent heat, or by inmates of 
bottle, in two days all were gone except two, whose 
exquisite colour had departed, they being a dusky 
white; these too succumbed. In the same bottle, 
mingled with the Spivogyva, was an exquisite little 
plant of a dark blue-green, looking like beads 
strung together. I placed this apart in a small 
glass globe. On placing a portion under a micro- 
scope the fronds represented the appearance of a 
lovely miniature hornwort (pondweed), with dark 
spots or cells. I have never seen anything like it 
before, but from my books I conclude it is Bactra- 
chospemum monoliforme. 1 have it now living in a 
jar with a little duckweed. 

In the aquaria (of which I have thirty-four of 
various sizes full just now) in a jam-bottle, a 
creature nearly three inches long, like a rounded 
piece of barley-sugar, with white segments or rings 
is to be seen. The basal disc has fourteen white 
legs, the hood-like head appears to have two white 
eyes or suckers. It is generally attached to the 
side of the glass or a weed by suckers, waving 
about apparently seeking prey. Sometimes it 
holds by head and sucker to weed, like a root 
suspended in the air. When it walks it loops like 
the looper caterpillars, almost pressing its head 
down by its basal sucker. In another bottle I 
have a sort of similar three-inch blackish animal, 
striped like a tabby cat, the structure of which 
resembles the barley-sugar animal, but with this 
important difference, that it assumes the elongated 
ovate form of a leech at periods, and adheres 
tightly to the glass. On moving it, it progresses 
like the former animal, but elongates itself into a 
bar for repose at the bottom of the jar. 

The last two days countless small tealeaf- 
looking cadises, as mentioned before, are hurrying 
round like a steamer in motion. As they get older 
they become perfectly quiescent, and are evidently 
alot of cadis, but of what I have not yet found 
out, though I am watching further development. 

A squirrel, who pays daily visits to the garden, 
was exceedingly troublesome lately in climbing the 
big lime-tree opposite my writing table, nibbling 
off and stripping branches innumerable, but the 
last week or so has ceased, perhaps finding other 
occupation. 


Shiplake Vicavage, Oxon ; 
March 22nd, 1896. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 45 


NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 


A Dictionary of the Names of Minerals, including 
theiy History and Etymology. By ALBERT HuNTING- 
TON CHESTER, E.M., Ph.D., Sc.D. xxxviti and 
320 pp. 8vo. (New York: John Wiley and Sons. 
London: Chapman and Hall, 1896.) Price 15s. 
net. 

It is always a satisfaction to meet with such a 
book as this. Dictionaries with the derivations of 
the names of species in any branch of natural 
science are scarce enough. Students, as a rule, 
neglect the value attaching to names of animals, 
fossils or minerals ; so that when their turn comes 
to bestow names on newly-discovered species, it 
too frequently happens that want of suitability and 
general fitness lamentably shows itself in the name 
given. Not in any division of nature does this 
display itself more than in uninomal system 
adopted by mineralogists. Many of these names 
are, to say the least, fantastic, and furnish a sad 
want of uniformity in their termination. The 
opportunity for some specific terminal for mineral 
names was indicated twenty years since by Professor 
C. U. Shepard, of Amherst College. Massachusetts, 
who suggested that the commonly-used terminal 
‘‘ite”’ should be applied to all eect mineral 
species, and the termination ‘‘i » Should apply to 
all variety names. To use an expression not 
uncommor in the State, which is claimed to contain 
the ‘‘hub of the world,’ his proposal did not 
“catch on.’ So long as a hundred and fifty 
years ago Sir John Hill, in his ‘‘ History of the 
Fossils,” divided minerals into named genera 
and species, with classes and orders in which to 
arrange them. Not only did the system never 
come into use, but its inventor abandoned it some 
twenty years later. Since then, other attempts 
have been made in the same direction, but chemical 
analysis and the foundation of the science of crystal- 
lography led to the adoption of the present arrange- 
ment. Of fantastic names, some amusing instances 
may be found. A green fibrous arsenite of copper, 
was called ‘‘erinite’’ by Mr. W. Haidinger, because 
it was supposed to come from Ireland. The same 
name has been applied to a reddish clay-like 
mineral, allied to montmorillonite, from Giant’s 
Causeway. Printer’s errors are responsible for not 
a few long-accepted names, such as ‘‘ glorikite,”’ 
which is a mistake for glinkite, named in honour of 
General Glinka, who was Governor of the Ural 
Mines. This dictionary contains no less than 4,627 
names of minerals, though many of them are either 
popular names, obsolete, or synomyms. A useful 
addendum is a dictionary of authors of mineral 
names with their species. The list of titles of 
works cited in the dictionary is in itself a bib- 
liography of mineralogy, for it occupies eighteen 
pages of small type. Dr. Chester’s work is one 
which should be in every scientific library and in 
the hands of every mineralogist. We think that 
its issue cannot fail to give an impetus to the 
study cf minerals. 


A Hand-book to the Order Lepidoptera. By W. F. 
Kiirpy, F.L.S., F.Ent.S. Part 1. Butterflies— 
vol. 11. 348 pp. 8vo. 36 coloured plates, and 
numerous figures in the letterpress. (London: Allen 
and Co., Limited, 1896. Allen's Naturalist’s 
Library.) Price 6s. 


In our notice of the first volume of this work 
(S.G., N.S., vol. i, page 256), we pointed out that 
Mr. Kirby had struck out a new design in treating 
the well-worn subject of butterflies and moths; this 
he maintains in the second volume with much 
success. In it he nearly completes his observations 
on the butterflies, and will in the next volume 
commence his survey of the moths, after dealing 
with the Hesperiidz. We note with some dismay 
that Dr. Bowdler Sharpe in his editorial note to 
this volume of ‘‘The Naturalist’s Library,” says, 
“Mr. Kirby is especially well-known as an 
authority on entomological bibliography, and it 
is not surprising to find that his recent researches 
into nomenclature of butterflies have led him to 
arrive at conclusions concerning the proper names 
of our British species somewhat different from 
those adopted from most modern works.’’ Colias 
edusa is to go at last, and in its place Euryinus hyale ; 
whilst we also lose Colias hyale to find Eurymus kirbyt. 
We look in vain in the systematic index for our 
familiar Lycena e@gon, but have the good luck to 
find the silver-studded blue, bearing doubtless the 
correct scientific name of Plebius argus, so called by 
Linnzus, as it appeared in ‘‘ Systema Nature,’’ in 
1758. Mr. Kirby’s survey of the different families 
of butterflies occurring in Britain, and comparison 
with other members of the same families in other 
regions, is most instructive and well done. It 
constitutes the leading feature of the book, and is 
the more satisfactory because we can fully depend 
on whatever Mr. Kirby writes for us. The coloured 
plates are generally much better than those in 
many other works far more expensive. This 
volume confirms our opinion that Allen’s Natu- 
ralist’s Library is a liberal education in itself. 


Biological Experimentation : Its Functions and Limits. 
By SIR BENJAMIN WaRD RICHARDSON, M.D., 
F.R.S., 170 pp. 8vo. (London: George Bell and 
Sons, 1896.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 


Whenever we take up a book by Sir Benjamin 
Ward Richardson, we settle comfortably in our 
chair with the feeling that we are going to enjoy 
pages clearly setting forth well-arranged facts in 
plain language. This book is no exception, for 
although by no means an entrancing subject, it is a 
pleasure toread on page after page. The origin of 
the book was founded upon an invitation by the 
Council of the Leigh-Browne Trust to Dr. 
Richardson, to give replies to nine questions 
bearing more or less on the question of the 
necessity of vivisection. His answer as given on 
page 161 is good and unmistakable. One 
admirable chapter is a history of the ‘‘ Discovery 
of Anesthesia,” and it is well worth while getting 
the book for the chapter alone. 


One Thousand Difficult Words from Examination 
Papers. Part 2, for Seniors. Selected by A 
Practical Teacher. (London: Relfe Bros.) Price 3d. 


These thousand words are evidently selected, as 
stated in the title, and are by no means ‘‘ catchy,” 
or the trick words often heard at spelling bees. 
The only disadvantage seems to be in their 
arrangement, which would have been better if 
alphabetical. 


46 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


The Hare. 263 pp. 8vo, with g illustrations by 
G. D. Gites, A. THORBURN and C. WHIMPER. 
(London, New York and Bombay: Longmans, 
Green and Co., 1896.) Price 5s. 

This is the latest of Messrs. Longmans’ “ Fur 
and Feather Series,’ edited by Mr. Alfred E. 
T. Watson. ‘‘ The Natural History of the Hare’’is 


From “‘ The Hare” 


written by the Rev. H. A. Macpherson ; iis ‘‘ Shooi- 
ing” by the Hon. Gerald Lascelles ; ‘‘ Coursing’ by 
Charles Richardson ; ‘‘ Hunting’’ by J. S. Gibbons 
and G. H. Longman; and, finally, its “‘ Cookery ” is 
explained artistically by Colonel Kenney Herbert. 
Consequent on all this eminent attention, the 
hare doubtless feels either important or ‘‘ mad.” 
Our business in noticing this beautifully produced 


little book is to deal with the first section, in which 
Mr. Macpherson chattily compresses into about 
sixty pages a vast amount of carefully selected lore 
appertaining to the history of hares. This he 
groups in chapters headed: ‘‘ Studies in Hare 
Life,” ‘‘ Pages of Hare Lore,” ‘‘The Hare and the 
Lawyers,” and ‘*The Hare and her Trod.” 


(Longmans’ “ Fur and Feather Series.”) 


Among the more imporianit and little-understood 
features connected with hares are their diseases. 
Referring io them, the author remarks with 
great truth: ‘‘We know very little about the 
diseases from which wild animals suffer. In 
confinement their maladies are connected more 
or less with improper feeding and wani oi adequate 
exercise and fresh air; and these disorders can be 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 47 


overcome by patience and trouble. ButI never yet 
met anyone who had devoted special attention to the 
investigation of the diseases which affect our smaller 
wild animals.”” Further he says: ‘‘ The topic seems 
to suggest fresh fields for skilled research,’’ and 
again, ‘‘Men neglect to study the habits of the 
birds or beasts which live around them, simply 


Europe. One with fur of thick texture, and 
showing a tendency to become white in winter, 
inhabits North-east Europe; the central variety 
of Europe, which jncludes our English hare, is 
characterised by having fur of moderate texture: 
whilst the third form inhabits Southern Europe, 
and exhibits a remarkable thinness of its fur, when 


“MAKING FOR THE HEDGEROW.” 


From: The Hare” (Longmans’ “ Fur and Feather Series.’’) 


because, they say, ‘they are common.’ Almost 
every bird or beast is common somewhere; but 
its abundance or scarcity is of minor importance to 
the true naturalist.” The common brown hare of 
England and the Lowlands of Scotland is a 
creature of temperate climates. Mr. Macpherson, 
quoting Mr. Oldfield Thomas, of the British 
Museum, says there are three distinct varieties in 


compared with the other two varieties. We give, 
by the courtesy of Messrs. Longmans, two of the 
illustrations from this work: one showing the 
‘‘red"’ hare, in the picture entitled ‘‘ Making for 
the Hedgerow,” and the other of ‘‘ blue”’ hares, or 
‘‘mountain hares,’ an entirely different race from 
the red, in that labelled ‘A Hare Drive." Red 
hares in Britain vary considerably in weight, 


48 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


“plenty weigh nine and tien pounds, bui it is a 


very big hare, indeed, that reaches eleven pounds; 
though enormous individual hares have un- 
doubiedly scaled between thirteen and fourteen 
pounds.” The South European hare averages only 
five or six pounds weight. The temptation to quote 
liberally from Mr. Macpherson’s hare lore is great, 
for he is in his best anecdotal style, which is, 
indeed, passing pleasant to read—but we must 
forbear. This is in all,a most charming book for 
both couniry and town house. In the former we 
may watch from the windows the antics of the 
mad hares “in the season of the year,”’ as the old 
poacher’s song has it; while in the iown house we 
May pour over the pages by Colonel Kenney 
Herbert, until our appetite is whetied by anticipa- 
tion and ihe delicate aroma of the genile hare— 
when “ jugged.”’ 

Earih-Knowledge: A Text-book of Phystography. 
By W-. jzrome Harrison, P. G.S., and H. 
ROWLAND WAKEFIELD. Pari ii., sixth edition. 
246 pp. small 8vo, illustrated by 103 figures. 
(London : Blackie and Co., Lid., 1806.) Price 
2s. 6d. 

This edition of Part ii. of “‘ Earth-Knowledge,” 
which is devoted to advanced physiography, has 
been revised throughout and much extended io 
meet the requirements of the syllabus for physi- 
ography issued by the Science and Ari Depari- 
ment in 7895. The bulk of the book has been 
increased by half, and the figures doubled in 
number. As a teachers’ aid, this and Pari i, 
which we noticed in November lasi, are excellent, 
on account of their conciseness and the ease with 
which any subject may be found and explained. 
To the student who is coaching for the South 
Kensington Examination they are a necessity, and 
every reader is sure to learn something new ffom 
them. 


The Honey Bee: A Manual of Instruction in 
Apiculiure. By Frank Brenton, M.S., i118 pp. 
crown 8vo, illustrated by 1o plates and 76 figures. 
(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1895.) 

This admirable manual for the apiculturisi is 
based upon scieniific knowledge as well as mature 
practice. Jt opens with a biological accouni of 
bees, commencing wiih the various species of 
honey bees of the North American coniineni, ard 
the introduced Kinds. This is followed by some 
account of their anatomy. The resi of the work is 
devoted to the economic aspect of honey produc- 
tion, and the most modern modes of management. 

The imporiance of the industry in the States may 
be gathered from the Government estimate that 
the annual value of honey is upwards of £4,000,000. 
The illustrations are admirable, treating of appara- 
tus in bee-culture, food plants, anatomy, and 
diseases. The work is issued by the U.S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Division of Entomology, and 
is, we believe, given free to suitable societies and 
individua!s. 


Transactions of the English Arboriculiural Society. 
Vol. iii., part i. 145 pp. medium 8vo. (Carlisle: 
G. and T. Coward. London: Simpkin, Marshall, 
1895-96.) Price ts. 6d. 

This part contains seven articles, by various 
writers, upon foresiry in some form. Several of 
the communications are of importance. There 
are also minutes of meetings and excursions, 
with lists of members of ithe society and books 
in its library. 


: sIcROSCOPY i 


AguatTic HymMENoPpTERA.—We wish to callatten- 
tion to, and ask the assistance of, microscopists in 
the excellent work by Mr. F. Enock in elucidating 
the life-histories of these insects. 


Parasitic Corerpopa—The Journal of the 
Marine Biological Association, vol. iv., No. 2, 
contains a list of the Parasitic Copepoda of fish 
obtained at Plymouth, by Mr. P. W. Bassett- 
Smith, F.R.M_S., on theclassification of Gerslzcker, 
which is founded largely upon the minute anatomy 
of the animals. This paper will be useful to 
microscopists studying the Copepoda. 


QUEKETT Microscopicat Crur.—Mr. Edward 
Milles Nelson, F.R.M.S., in his presidential 
address, delivered February 2Ist, reviewed the 
work for the past year, more especially with 
regard io improvements in instruments and auxi- 
liary apparatus of the previous year. His remarks 
are printed in the journal of the Club for April. 
The report of the committee appears in the same 
part; from it we find that the attendance on 
meeting nighis averaged fifty-two members and 
friends. The cabinet was enriched by sevenity-nine 
slides, of which no less than sixty-six were from 
Mr. Rousselet, chiefly delicately mounted rotifers. 
An importani gifi was by the Misses Harman, of a 
a cabinet containing one thousand specimens 
prepared by their uncle, the late J. G. Tatem, of 
Reading, a member of the club for-tweniy years. 


Mounting Mezepiums.—The preservation of 
Microscopic objects is a subject which cannot 
fail to be interesting to many of the readers of 
Sciznce-Gossip, and as there appears to be some 
little difference of opinion amongst microscopists 
as to which medium is the most durable, a litle 
friendly Giscussion in these columns mighi prove 
beneiicial in arriving ait a decision. So far as my 
own experience goes, I have come io the conclusion 
—after many irials—ihai there is no mounting 
medium equal io Canada-balsam, glycerine or 
glycerine-jelly. Objects preserved in these seem 
to improve with age, especially in the case of 
Canada-balsam; whilst those mounted in other 
media deteriorate, as I proved to my cost only a 
few weeks back, when I had the disappointment 
to fina a valuable slide, prepared by an eminent 
mounter, absolutely worthless, owing to the 
preserving substance having perished. As some 
proof of the trustworthiness of Canada-balsam, 
1 may mention that I have some slides in my 
collection prepared by the elder Topping quite 
forty years ago, which are as good now as the day 
they were purchased ; and the accompanying photo- 
graph of the ovipositor of the green saw-fly, which 
was taken from a slide (likewise mounted in 
balsam) prepared upwards of 15 years, will also 
furnish ocular demonstration as to its value as a 
preservative. Perhaps some of my brother micro- 
scopists will give us the benefit of their experience. 
—J. C. Webb, F.E.S., 32, Hensiowe Road, Dulwich. 

[The photograph shows the object to be in 
perfect condition. Ed. S.-G_] 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 49 


_ ASTRONOMY, 


aty,, Mite, ; 

Sot AL 
Si wh ic a 
uu] En 
SSS me 


CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 


Rises. Sets. Posttion at Noon. 
hm. hm. R.A. Dec. 
1896. A.M. P.M. him, 
Sun eee CULVAue Mees 3-4 Orem ONTO) ree Or4 anes 200 eneeNIE 
; oy EE coo BH Scon Bb on YO on GS al 
MC oe=s) An LONs-BO-2) Maer 10-5 beset 2Oc OF 
IS Lenes tA 25ieeu AGI wr. tO Sie gitOe (OF 
Rises. Souths. Sets. 
P.M. A.M. A.M, 
Moon ... oH co BREE) cdo 1icgH8) ce, GMohy“tne 
t A.M, P.M. 
SOL ees?) te, O10) 
P.M. P.M. 
PSs eh OslZarn N5O.35) eel 
P.M, A.M. A.M. 
BIB ace | OLE) coo ARGV ode Has) 
Souths. Semi 
AM. Diameter. R.A. Dec. 
Mercury... TN tee XO-33 lave Aus 21.55.14 ue eer O GENE 
HE coe HOW} on Sf} ccs, Gt es Bi Gf! 
2B or OEP HG GIG? oo, BS) Ie) 
P.M. 
eeepee dos OVA miss wedi, 8.45 ... 19° 48/ 
A.M. 
Venus fH Geo SARE oto TI OSL as EES Fa NE 
P.M. 
hm BE hoe CHS oo HES. oe AB) ccs BY Gf! 
5) 2H xo OF on, 4Y 6) 8.20 ... 20° 42! 
m Selon CM oe CHG) g.II 17° 40! 
A.M. 2 
Mars ... Ph Oe, SRS 1.53». 9° 50!N 
oh 3st eed. Ho) eg © API) copy BOE aU 
The 23 bos) OZ? ero) SIRS) 2:47 s. T4° 25! 
Fn ast ceo, LORE cos ca. C10) 3:03) -.- Loot 
P.M. 
Fupiter ... 9) BE oro SY ah WA ED 16° 55’ N 
Saturn ... ey ee a CUE HY ©) aa Beg} 13° 23’ S 
Uvanus ... WE foo HS coo) EEG) ay BGS! 17° 38' S 
A.M. 
Neptune... 28 ces MOG) cog EE) co EH a EO SEN? IN] 
Moon’s PHASEs. 
3rd Qy,... July3 ... 1.23a.m. New ... July to ... 7.35 p.m. 
WOKE coo py 277 ooo Gi oes) OTHER ey Ba uti pepe 


Sun.—The spots are now usually small, both in 
number and size, although there was a slight 
increase in activity about the first days of June. 
On three consecutive days in April, and again on 
three days in May, the Greenwich photographs 
show no spots on the disc. 


Mercury is at its greatest elongation W. (21° 13’) 
on July 4, and may be looked for as a morning 
star, rising more than an hour before the Sun. 


VENUS, being close to the Sun, is badly placed. 
The same must be said for Jupiter and Neptune. 


SATURN sets about midnight in the middle of the 
month. The ring is a magnificent object ; on July 
2gth the greater axis of the outer ring is 39°55”, and 
the minor axis 13°79”. 


AuRORAL displays of considerable brilliancy 
were seen on May 3rd, lasting three hours, and 
May 17th, lasting two hours. Mr. C. Roberts, of 
Aberdeen, sends detailed descriptions to our con- 
temporary, ‘‘ The English Mechanic.” 


METEoRS.—Large meteors should be looked for 
on July 11, 20-21, 25-30. 


VARIABLE stars need persistent and careful 


watching. During July the following stars of this 
class are well placed for observation :— 

R.A. Magnitude, 

h.m., Dec. Max. Min. Period. 
7 Aquilz ... 19.45 ... 0° 40/N. Bie A Jor GOs 40, TAM, AB; 
LAER wee oar LOS hivacs ee ee de osimers 6 
M Cephei ... 21.40 ... 58° 11' N. ... 4... 6 ... 5 or 6 years. 


X2 Cyenit... 19.45 ... +13... 406°42 days. 


5 
5 
$ 
4 
; Y oe 
20,40 ee Sae Ie Nae S) spelt 
3: 
4 
4 


4 ae 20.13 ... 37° 37N. .. 6 

B Lyre - 18.45... 33° 12'N, ... 3°5... 435... 12d. 21h, 51m. 
IZR,, ... 18.51 ... 43° 46/N. ... 4°3... 46 

R Scuti SOA O see 5p 5O) Sa eendy7 sce Olean Psd y os 


* Variable in colour, yellowish-white to red. 


_t s.f. The double star X on the maps. Discovered by 
Kirch, in 1686, to be variable. It is splendidly red, but 
seems to lose colour as it gains light. 


{ Within this period there occur two maxima and two 
unequal minima. 


SaATuRN’s RinGs.—At the April and May meetings 
of the British Astronomical Association, there were 
most interesting discussions upon the rings of Saturn. 
M. Antoniadi, under very fine definition, at Juvisy, 
found the division of the outer ring, known as 
Encke’s, absent, whilst the ring itself seemed broken, 
as it were, into patches or fragments. A few days 
after, Mr. C. Roberts found the Encke division in 
its normal state. Abundant evidence is being 
gathered that the ring is not constant in appear- 
ance; but this subject is so wide that we must 
shortly deal with it in another column. 


SWIFT’s ComEtT.—There appears to be some 
doubt as to whether the comet generally observed 
was really that discovered by Swift. The comet 
was travelling almost directly north, just bearing 
slightly to the east, and should have been, according 
to calculation, some five degrees further south, on 
April 13th, than the place announced by Swift. 
Moreover, Professor Lewis Swift described the one 
he saw as travelling slowly to the west. Was the 
announcement right, after all, that the Lick observers 
saw Swift’s own comet on April 16th, to the south- 
west of its place of discovery? The writer saw the 
comet travelling through Cassiopea on May gth, 
1oth, 11th, and on the last occasion was struck 
with its increased faintness. Mr. S. H. R. Salmon, 
on May 27th, told the British Astronomical 
Association how, on May 4th, he had noticed a star 
of about ninth magnitude, when observed through 
the ‘comet, dimmed to the extent of at least one 
magnitude. This observation is almost, if not 
quite, the first record where a star has thus seemed 
to lose its lustre whilst covered by a comet. 
Moreover, some other stars were not appreciably 
fainter when covered by this same comet. Was it 
owing to any peculiarity of colour in the light 
of the star ? 


METEOR OF APRIL 12TH.—I was interested to 
read the notice in ScrENcE-Gossip of the meteor 
of April 12th. It was by far the most brilliant I 
have ever seen. I was crossing a field about three 
miles from Leicester, and could with difficulty 
trace the path in the dusk of the evening, when 
suddenly the scene was lit up by a flood of light 
as of moonlight, and glancing upwards I saw a 
large meteor slowly sailing across the heavens, 
leaving a rocket-like trail of sparks behind it. It 
was moving in a south-westerly direction, and 
when I first saw it it was about forty-five degrees 
above the horizon, and disappeared about thirty 
degrees above the horizon.—Geo. C. Turner, Park- 
hurst, Upper New Walk, Leicester ; June 11th. 


50 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


‘Z ae 


ee . 


fi» 


My} Fz ik, 


CIENCE GOSSIP |#22 
Ze SCENE GOSSIP 


eal 


Sir JOSEPH PREsTWicH, the eminent professor 
of geology, died from a heart affection at Shore- 
ham, Kent, on Tuesday, June 23rd. 


Tue fern-exterminator is active in Devonshire. 
Periodically there appears an advertisement in 
certain London halfpenny papers, where “‘a lady” 
offers forty roots of ‘‘fine and rare” ferns for the 
modest sum of one shilling and fourpence. 


Tue Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Welling- 
ton College Natural Science Sociciy, embracing 
work done in 1895, is io hand. The Saturday 
meetings and lectures appear to have been successful. 
Observations of a phenological and meteorological 
character have been made, and reports appear on 
other seciions. 


A FIVE-POUND meteorite, which fell last April 
in an orchard near Namur, in Belgium, nearly 
killing a young man who was digging there, has 
been examined at the University laboratory at 
Ghent. Jt consists of a crystalline substance, 
containing iron, trolleite, olivine, bronziie, and 
chondrodite. 


_ On June 11th, the Falls of Foyers, in Scotland, 
were diverted to the manufacture of aluminium, 
which is obtained from the mineral bauxite, found 
in quantity in co. Antrim, in Ireland. There it 
is converted into aluminia, and shipped in the 
form of white powder io Foyers, to be further 
treated and turned into its metalic form, now 
becoming generally used for many purposes. 


THE GEOLoGIsTs’ ASSOCIATION OF LonDoN held 
a series of interesting excursions at Whitsun- 
tide. They included the districts surrounding 
Chippenham, the headquarters being at the Angel 
Hote! in that town. Calne was ass explored, 
and the underground quarries at Box of the Bath 
Stone Firms were taken on the way back _to 
London, on the Tuesday. 


Tue July excursions of the London Geologists’ 
Association include one on the 4th io Potter’s Bar 
and Hatfield, conducted by Mr. A. E. Slater, 
BSc.; July rth, whole day to view the new 
railway cuttings at Catesby, Northamptonshire, 
led by Mr. Beeby Thompson, P.G.S.; and fom 
July 27th to August ist to West Somerset and 
North Devon. Siena may be obtained from 
Mr. Horace W. Monckion, secretary of excursions, 
10, King’s Bench Walk, Temple, E_C. 


AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES seem to be doing all in 
their power to push forward the work of Astronomy. 
Within the past twelve months four of them: have 
established or decided upon establishing observa- 
tories. At Champaign, the University of Illinois 
is going to set up a twelve-inch achromatic 
equatorial At Philadelphia, the University of 
Pennsylvania has an eighteen-inch. In connection 
with the coming opposition of the planet Mars, the 
Chicago University has arranged to set up a 
moveable observatory in Mexico, where it is to be 
hoped good work may be done. 


THE opening of the Botanic Society's Gardens, 
Regent’s Park, on certain days in the week during 
summer, to the general public, by payment, has 
proved a great success. These are to be supple- 
mented by six musical promenades on consecutive 
Saturday afternoons, from June zoth, the admis- 
sion being one shilling. 


THE cases of rabies among dogs in the Metro- 
politan district of London are reported as 25 in 
January, 25 in February, 22 in March, 11 in April, 
and io from ist to 21st of May... During that 
period, upwards of 20,000 dogs were “‘ arrested ”’ 
by the police, most of which were destroyed. 


Proressor Dr ADALBERT Kricrer.—A few 
weeks sincejthis well-known Continental worker 
passed away. He was born at Marienburg in 
1832, and in 1853 obtained an appointment in ihe 
Berlin Observatory. He later assisted Argelander 
at Bonn. In 1862, he became Direcior of the 
Observatory at Helsingfors for a period of fourteen 
years. Thence he took charge of the Gotha 
Observatory uniil 1880, when he removed io Kiel, 
where his work has been continued until his death, 
in his sixty-fourth year. Dr. Kruger was Director 
of the Bureau Central des Telegrammes Astro- 
nomiques, and of the important Astronomische 
Nachrichten. 


Lorp Ketvyin’s jubilee celebraiions have been 
conducted at Glasgow with the great success they 
deserved. The number of persons oi consequence 
in the scientific world who assisted is remarkable. 
The ocean telegraph companies vied with each 
other in showing their gratitude; for without his 
invention of the mirror galvinometer, their existence 
could not be commercially successful. It was this 
invention which won for Mr. Thompson his knighi- 
hood in 1866, and led on to his peerage in 1802. It 
has fallen to the lot of Lord Kelvin to occupy for 
half a century the same professorial chair at 
Glasgow University. During that period, he has 
seen the study of Science changed in public opinion 
irom a subject either little thought about or aciually 
scofied at to the present respect in which it is held. 
This has been largely brought about by such men 
as Lord Kelvin, who have so admirably adapted 
the discoveries of science to the advaniages of 
commerce. With the mass of people in the days 
when Thompson took the chair at Glasgow, science 
was rarely considered; Dui when one invention 
after another emanaied from the resuli of |scientific 
investigation, each ministering in some way to their 
personal comfort, people began io believe in 
science and cease io rail at its votaries. 

Tue extent of Lord Kelvin’s scientific enquiry is 
periecily unrivalled. 1% is not too much to say that 
his researches include the whole range of physics, 
varied by mechanical and natural sciences. The 
great charm of this learned ornament of human 
civilization is the lucidity with which his explana- 
tions, whether spoken or written, are placed before 
his audience. This is largely atiained by an 
absence of encumbrance of details, and whatever 
may be the iempiaiion for seli-advertisement it is 
rigidly subordinated to the simple explanation of 
whatever great principle he may be for the moment 
expounding. Perhaps this is the secret of his great 
success as a lecturer, for no matier how involved 
or absiruse his subject he always commands 
attention. We irast Lord Kelvin may for many 
years to come be spared to continue the noble life 
of invention and discovery which will BS his 
name with honour inio far posterity. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 51 


CONTRIBUTED BY G. K, GUDE, F.Z.S. 


BULLETIN DE LA Socirit& ZoOOLOGIQUE DE 
France (Paris, February, 1896). M. Edouard 
Chevreux discusses and figures Gammarus bervilloni, 
a crustacean species, while M. A. Dollfus con- 
tributes an article on the ‘‘ Terrestrial Isopod 
Crustacea of Mexico,’’ in which he describes and 
figures the following new species : Avmadillo dugesi, 
and Metoponorthus saussuvei. M. Jules de Guerne and 
M. Jules Richard describe a new copepod crustacean 
from Boghara, Turkistan, Diaptomus blanci, with 
figures in the text. This part also contains the 
Presidential Address by M. E. L. Bouvier. 


ANNAES DE SCIENCIAS NATURAES. (Oporto, 
1896.) Dr. Paulino de Oliveira continues his 
‘Catalogue of the Hemiptera of Portugal,’ while 
the same author in conjunction with Dr. Lopes 
Vieira continue their ‘‘ Catalogue of Mammalia of 
Portugal.” A further contribution on ‘‘ The Fishes of 
the Cape Verde Islands,” by Don Joao Cardoso, 
jun., will be welcomed by ichthyologists. The 
Editor, Dr. Augusto Nobre, continues his ‘‘ Mollusca 
and Brachiopoda of Portugal,’”’ while continuations 
of ‘‘ The Coleoptera of Sabrosa,” by Don Correa 
de Barros, and ‘*‘ Birds of Portugal,” by Mr, W. 
C. Tait, complete this part. 


La FEUILLE DES JEUNES NATURALISTES (Paris, 
May, 1896). M. E. L. Bouvier contributes the 
first instalment of a paper on a family of 
Crustacea, i.e. the Paguridz (hermit crabs) of the 
European Seas. A woodcut of Eupagurus Bernhardus 
and some minor details of other species accompany 
the text. M. Schlumberger gives a resumé of a 
contribution by M. Schaudinn in “ Sitzungs Bericht 
der Gesellschaft von Naturforschende Freunde,” on 
Plastogamy and Karyogamy of Foraminifera. Ina 
continuation of his paper on ‘“‘ Myriapod Fauna of 
France,’’ M. H. Broelemann describes a new species, 
Julus odieri, in which he figures the pair of copu- 
latory legs. M.M.Cossmann conintues his review 
of Palzeoconchology, in which he deals with the 
fauna of the ‘‘Muschelkalk of Lombardia,” by 
Dr. Annibal Tommasi; ‘“ Versteinerungen des 
Lias und Unteroolith von Chile,” by W. Moericke ; 
‘‘Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Kreide in den 
Sidalpen,” by Georg Boehm; ‘‘ Ueber einige 
Kreide versteinerungen vom Gabun,” by F. 
Kossmat; ‘Synopsis dei molluschi terziari. delle 
alpi Venete,’”’ by M. Vinassa de Regny; ‘‘ Die 
Pontische Fauna von Kurd im Comitate Tolna,”’ 
by Dr. Emerich Lérenthey; and “ Beitrage zur 
Kenntniss der unter pontinischen Bildung des 
Szilagyer Comitates und Siebenburgens,” by Dr. 
Emerich Lorenthey. 


ANNALEN DES K. K. NAaTURHISTORISCHEN 
HoFMUSEUMS (Vienna, 1895; vol. x., parts 1 and 
2).—Professor Dr. R. Hoernes contributes an 
important article on a rare fossil shell, Pereivaia 
gervaisit, originally assigned to Pleuyotoma, but made 
the type of a new genus by Crosse. Its occurrence 
in Austria was first made known by Schlénbach, 
and subsequently specimens were found in Miocene 


formations of lower Carniolia and Hungary; two 
lithographed plates and two figures in the text give 
a good idea of this handsome shell. Herr 
Friedrich Siebenrock treats of the skeletons of 
Scincoidez (sand-lizards) and Anguideze (blind- 
worms), with one plate and four figures in the text. A 
monograph of the genus Sfhex (digging-wasps), by 
Herr Kohl, illustrated by two lithographed plates 
of anatomical details of a large number of species, 
will be found very useful by hymenopterists. A 
voluminous report, for 1894, on the different 
departments of the Museum, by the Director, 
concludes Part 1. Ethnologists and Anthropologists 
will find in Part 2 a very interesting and 
instructive article by Dr. Wilhelm Hein, on 
the evolution (Entwickelungsgeschichte) of orna- 
ments of the Dyaks, illustrated by twenty-nine 
figures in the text, showing many complicated 
patterns of various objects in the museums of 
Vienna, Hamburg, Amsterdam and Leiden. Dr. 
Gustav Mayr, in a paper on African Formicidex, 
describes several new species of ants. The Curator 
and Director of the botanical department of the 
Museum, Dr. Giinther Ritter Beck von Mannagetta, 
communicates the seventh part of his “ Flora of 
South Bosnia and the neighbouring part of the 
Hergegovina,”’ dealing with Papaveracezee—U mbelli- 
fere. Students of Foraminifera will be pleased 
with the paper by Professor A. Rzehak on ‘‘ Some 
remarkable forms from the Austrian Tertiary,” with 
two plates illustrating many new and beautiful 
species. 

La FEUILLE DES JEUNES NATURALISTES. (Paris, 
June and July, 1896.) Students of Crustacea will 
find the conclusion of M. Bouvier’s synoptical 
tables on ‘‘ The Pagurinez of the European Seas,” 
with many figures in the text, very useful. M. 
Oberthur, in his continuation of ‘‘ Mimicry in 
Insects,” deals with Papilio, in which many 
instances of this curiousand interesting phenomenon 
occur. M. Xavier Raspail writes on the Marsh 
Otter (Mustela lutreola), also known as the European 
mink, the existence of which, in France, seems 
to have been doubted, having been frequently 
confounded with the polecat. Numerous captures 
in various parts of twelve Departments prove its 
existence in that country beyond doubt. The con- 
clusion of the series of articles by M. Broelemann 
on ‘‘The Myriapodous Faunaof France,” with figures 
in the text, will be welcomed by students of this 
class of Arhropoda. M. E. de Laroy writes on the 
breeds of horses in Holland; according to that 
author these horses have retained more of the 
primitive type than in any other country. The 
three principal breeds are those of Friesland, 
Guelderland and Utrecht. The first contains a 
remnant of the Andalusian type, which is attributed 
to importations made during the occupation of 
Holland by the Spaniards in the sixteenth 
century; black appears to be the predominant 
colour in this breed. The Gueldre horse is larger 
than the former, very strong and gentle, and 
possesses particular qualification for use as a coach- 
horse; it is stated to be a cross-breed between the 
indigenous horse and that of Oldenburg, and 
resembles the Normandy horse to such a degree as 
even to deceive connoisseurs ; in colour it is usually 
a bay. The Utrecht horse is intermediate between 
the two other breeds, resembling both in many 
respects; it is considered a handsome and good 
carriage horse, being very energetic and sagacious ; 
like the latter it is usually of a bay colour, but 
darker. Three photogravures accompany this 
interesting article, representing each breed. 


52 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


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ABNORMAL PrimRosE.—I send you some speci- 
mens of flowers of Primula vulgaris with much 
elongated tube to the calyx. Every bloom on this 
plant is abnormal; it is growing in the garden.— 
Francis Buckell, Park House, Romsey. 


ABNORMAL Litac.—I send you a curiously 
abnormal specimen of white lilac from my garden, 
you will observe that several of the flowers show 
deviation from the type. In one of them I make 
out five corollas and ten stamens.—Martin J. 
Teesdale, St. Margaret's, Thurlow Park Road, Dulwich ; 
May 6th, 1896. 


EaRLy PRIMROSES IN ABERDEENSHIRE.—One 
result of the mild season during the early part of 
this year was that I gathered primroses in flower 
here on February 7th. The flowers were both well- 
formed and well-coloured, but rather below average 
size. They have flowered on since that date and 
have been showing superior flowers.—W. Wilson, 
Alford, Aberdeenshive. 


CYATHUS VERNICOSUS IN IRELAND.— Mr. R. 
Lloyd Praeger records the occurrence in a cold 
greenhouse at Macedon, Belfast, of this small 
birds’-nest fungus. It has been found, year by 
year, for more than twenty years in flowerpots 
containing various plants. 


ABNORMAL COTYLEDON UMBILICUS.—We have 
received a remarkable spray of Cotyledon umbilicus 
in which the stem is fasciated and about double 
its ordinary thickness. The flowers are not directly 
attached in the ordinary manner, but arranged 
upon sixteen branches, some of them being nearly 
as long as the chief stem. The termination of the 
stem is blunt, with five of the shorter branches 
arranged in loose rosette. The specimen was found 
near Lynmouth, North Devon, by Mr. C. A. Briggs. 


ABNORMAL FEVERFEW.—I send you some shoots 
of the common feverfew, which I think may 
interest you. They are evidently meant to be 
flowers, for you will be able to arrange them in 
a series from an almost ordinary shoot to an 
imperfect flower surrounded with leaves in the 
place of bracts. They were picked off two plants 
which have been moved twice (I think) during the 
winter, which has been very mild here, no hard 
frost or snow. Two calceolarias have lived out-of- 
doors all the winter.—Frank Sich, jun., Niton, Isle 
of Wight. 

PyRUS JAPONICA FRuITING.—The Cydonia or 
Pyrus japonica bears fruit which ripens in the open 
air at one place at least inco. Armagh. I knowa 
thatched house at Derryadd, Parish of Ardmore, 
on the south shore of Lough Neagh, about fifty 
feet above sea-level, on the front of which is an old 
plant of this shrub that each year is covered with 
bloom, and frequently brings quite a number of the 
fruit to maturity. I lived for many years close to 
this spot, and often saw and admired the ripe fruit, 
and they were striking and beautiful objects. I 
have not seen it fruit elsewhere.—H. W. Lett, 
M.A., Aghaderg Glebe, Loughbrickland, co. Down. 


Rooxs SwaLLowine Fir-Conzs.—I have often 
noticed rooks during a time of continued hard 
frost working at the cones on Scotch firs, and I 
have heard that on such occasions the rooks are 
breaking up, with their strong bills, the green cones 
to feed on the small seeds contained in them. To 
my mind appearances were against the rooks 
hacking the cones to pieces, for they seemed to 
me to keep on the trees and to pass from one 
branch to another when engaged in feeding on this 
delicacy. So I took opportunities last winter of 
paying close attention to them, and finding num- 
bers busy on all the Scotch firs on my glebe, I 
managed to get into an out-house close under a 
fine large Scotch fir near my house; and from 
this post of observation, where I was only a few 
yards from the birds, I satisfied myself that the 
rooks did not break up the small green cones— 
they touched no others—but swallowed them 
whole. I saw them tugging at the cones, and 
when one was severed from a brand I distinctly 
observed it being swallowed, I saw the lump 
formed by its passing down the bird’s neck just 
as one often sees in the case of ducks swallowing 
small potatoes. And I have never found any of 
the green cones lying about with the marks of 
the seeds having been removed by the rooks.— 
H. W. Lett, M.A., Loughbrickland; May, 1806. 


GERMINATION OF DovuBLE Cocoanut. — The 
double cocoanut, though at one time very highly 
prized as a natural curiosity, is probably now 
familiar to many. From its restricted distribution 
—only being found indigenous in a few of the 
Seychelles Islands, a small group in the Indian 
Ocean—and the absence of inducements to its 
cultivation ; it is scarcely likely ever to become 
very common. Its comparative scarcity, as well 
as some of the attendant circumstances, give interest 
to a case of the production of a fine plant from the 
seed in the Victoria Regia house at Kew Gardens. 
In June, 1892, a nut, i.¢. the seed, was to be seen 
there, placed on earth in a pot, the seedling (which 
emerges from the depression between the two lobes 
forming the double nut), a fine young plant, was 
rooted in another pot near it, connection being 
maintained by the stalk attached to the modified 
cotyledon or haustorium within the seed, which 
absorbs nourishment from the endosperm and 
conveys it to the growing plant. At this time the 
plant must have been of some age, probably at 
least a year old, judging from its size. Ona 
subsequent visit in September, 1894, I noticed the 
seedling had developed into a small palm, with 
several fine leaves from six to eight feet long. Ona 
recent occasion, in June, the parent cocoanut was 
to be seen still connected with the palm to which 
it had given birth four or five years before, although 
no doubt all nourishment had been absorbed from 
it some time previously. The stalk now appears to 
be woody, and, with the shell of the seed, might 
continue to exist for several years, forming an 
interesting and rare natural curiosity.—/as. Burton, 
9, Agamemnon Road, West Hampstead. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 53 


Mr. CArRINGTON’S list of varieties of five-banded 


British land-shells is now ready. 
Advertisements. 

NEsTING SITE OF LARK.—From time to time 
notices appear in nearly every newspaper of 
strange nesting-places, but few seem more extra- 
ordinary than a lark’s nest at a railway station. 
On the platform of the South Canterbury Station, 
in a bed of pinks, on one of those carefully-kept 
flower-borders which always tend to make a 
station interesting and help to while time away 
when waiting for the train, a lark at the present 
time is busily engaged attending to the wants of a 
hungry brood. The nest is not well concealed, 
and is within a foot of the bustling steps of every 
passer-by. Curious as indeed the site may be, it 
is rendered more remarkable inasmuch as a 
clover-field adjoins the station on the one side, and 
a hay-field is close at hand on the other, either 
being usual places for nesting of these birds.— 
H. Mead-Briggs, Canterbury ; May toth, 1896. 

Rare Fry, Hirara.—In connection with your 
excellent paper, SciENCE-Gossip, I believe you 
undertake to identify specimens for the convenience 
of your readers. I have availed myself of this 
opportunity. The query specimen is a small fly of 
a brownish colour and about 1°5 mm. in length, 
which I found when looking for Collembola in the 
ordinary surface-soil of a field. At first I mistook 
it for a small beetle, but on capturing the specimen 
and placing it under a low power of the microscope, 
I perceived that it had six legs, and two pairs of 
wings. One pair resembled the ‘‘ halteres’”’ of the 
Diptera, the other pair were much dwarfed in size, 
and were totally incapable of lifting the insect into 
the air. They retained, however, the appearance 
of wings, and were not quite flat upon the abdomen 
of the insect. Another feature was the occurrence 
of two small swellings upon the first pair of legs. 
They were of a light colour. As I was at the time 
turning over the loose earth I was unable to 
determine whether it was running about on the 
surface or whether I turned it over from the soil. 
Soon after completing a rough sketch of the insect, 
I unfortunately crushed it between two slips of 
glass, while intending to make it into a slide, but 
of course was thus prevented from doing so. I 
send the sketch, however, which sufficiently shows 
the peculiar character of the wings. Could you 
give me any indication as to its name?—F. E. 
Howkins, 39, Farm Road, Sparvkbrook, Birmingham ; 
May 14th, 1896. 

[The very excellent sketch sent by our corres- 
pondent indicates a Dipterous fly of the genus 
Hilava, probably the scarce H. manicata. ‘There 
are about twenty British species in this genus, of 
which the swollen limb is the character. Being 
small in size and obscure in their habits, they are 
possibly considered more rare than is the case. 
They are carnivorous, feeding on Collembola and 
small insects, including individuals of their own 
kind. Abortive wings are common among the 
Diptera and Lepidoptera.—Ed. S.G. | 


See page of 


Lorp Lirrorp.—We have to announce with 
great regret that the Right Hon. Thomas Lyttleton 
Powys, fourth Baron Lilford, died at Lilford Hall, 
Oundle, on June 7th. He was one of the 
most accomplished ornithologists of his time, and 
had formed a beautifnl collection of British and 
foreign birds. He also possessed a considerable 
number of living birds and animals at Lilford 
Hall, which were a great source of scientific 
interest and pleasure to Lord Lilford, who un- 
fortunately suffered from a _ physical affliction 
which precluded his taking very active part in 
either politics or county matters. He was, 
however, a Fellow of the Linnean and Zoological 
Societies and President of the British Ornithologists’ 
Union. Lord Lilford caught a chill about a 
fortnight before his death, and unfortunately his 
delicate constitution was not able to throw it off. 
He was twice married, and is succeeded by his 
son and heir, the Hon. J. Powys. Lord Lilford 
had considerable literary ability, and has published 
several works of importance upon birds. One of 
his last works, indeed, the last published, was upon 
the birds of Northamptonshire. 

PETER INCHBALD.—This well-known naturalist 
died at Hornsea, in Yorkshire, on June 13th, at the 
age of eighty years. He wasaF.L.S., F.Z.S. and 
F.E.S. Son of Dr. Inchbald, of Ardwick Hall, 
near Doncaster, Peter Inchbald was a well-known 
entomologist, his especial groups being the leaf- 
mining Hymenoptera and gall-gnats. He also 
took much interest in ornithology and was an 
excellent botanist, and had studied plants during 
many visits to Southern Europe. Mr. Inchbald 
was a schoolmaster and resided at Storthes Hall, 
Huddersfield; also at Hovingham and Harrogate. 
Some years ago he retired to Hornsea. His demise 
removes a well-known and interesting lover of 
Nature. 

Bruce Finpvay, for nearly forty years Curator 
of the Royal Botanical Gardens belonging to the 
city of Manchester, at Old Trafford, has died in 
his sixty-second year. Though, perhaps, more of 
an horticulturist than a botanist, Findlay was 
the means of introducing to the notice of 
Lancashire botanists many plants of great interest. 
He was born at Streatham, near London, and early 
got an engagement in the Thames Nurseries. He 
then removed to Kew Gardens. Soon afterwards 
he went to the North of England and held 
situations at Hull and Sheffield. He was, at 
the early age of only a little more than twenty- 
three years, a candidate for the appointment of 
Curator. at the Royal Botanic Gardens at 
Manchester. This he secured, largely through the 
influence of Mr. Charles Carrington, father of the 
editor of this magazine, who was a member of the 
Committee of the Manchester Botanical Society, 
which then possessed the gardens. Findlay was 
one of the earliest to introduce public aquaria for 
exhibition purposes, he having erected two octagon 
tanks in the gardens, under the advice of the late 
Mr. Philip Henry Gosse. 


54 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


GEOLOGICAL SECTIONS.—A student writes to ask 
if any of our readers, versed in practical geology, 
will tell him of any published work which would 
show a student how to construct sections from 
geological maps? Books tell him how to construct 
them from actual field work, but not from a map 
already completed, so as to enable him to pass the 
practical examination, say, of Sandhurst. Which 
scale of the ordnance maps is most suitable for the 
work, giving full information concerning elevation 
above the sea, dip, etc.? Also the best work on 
microscopical rock sections, with illustrations, and 
descriptions of the same? He finds this branch of 
the subject most bewildering to anyone taking up 
geology for an examination. 


THANET SanpDs.—In examining the Thanet 
Sands in the cliffs between Herne Bay and Re- 
culver, I haye been struck by what appears to be a 
similar structure in the sands to that in the chalk 
beneath, in the shape of both vertical and 
horizontal infiltrations of black crystalline silica, 
The similarity in their mode of occurrence to the 
flint veins of the chalk is most striking. They 
appear to cross one another just like the flint 
layers. It would be interesting to know whether 
they have ever been seen to run continuously from 
one formation to another, in sections where both 
formations are exposed. Where the sand had been 
quarried it was noticeable too that thin vertical 
slabs of soft sandstone projected from the loose 
matrix, being slightly indicated by an infiltration, 
only, however, slightly so, since they crumbled 
readily between the fingers. In the slabs the colour 
was the same as that of the matrix. Bishopstone 
Dell, a mile from Herne Bay, is apparently an old 
water-course. The present ditch, as it is now, 
about a hundred yards inland, can be but a much- 
dwindled descendant of the stream which at one 
time carved out the course and cut its way through 
a thickness of fifty feet of Thanet sands. And yet 
within a quarter of a mile, as one follows the course 
inland, one rises to the level of the surrounding 
country. Whence could arise, then, the velocity of 
current necessary to carve out the dell? This 
seems to favour the theory which I have advanced 
elsewhere, that there has been a local vertical 
movement of the land here independently of the 
process which resulted in the silting-up of the arm 
of the sea which formerly existed at Reculver. I 
have seen an engraving which shows half a mile of 
land beyond the Reculver Towers. If the land 
here remained quiescent, then the water-course for 
this distance besides must have been carved by 
water-power, and the stream must have been 
proportionately larger. Going further back to 
Roman times, when the town of Regulbium 
flourished, the land still further extended into the 
sea, and the water-course required still greater 
force for its construction. I am therefore inclined 
to suspect that the silting-up of the Wantsum is 
not only due simply to fluviatile causes, but has 
been assisted by an actual rise in the land.—Edwd. 
A. Martin, Thornton Heath; May, 1806. 


ee 


4 


RoyaL METEOROLOGICAL SocieTy.—A monthly 
meeting of this society was held on Wednesday 
evening, May 2oth, at the Institution of Civil 
Engineers, Great George Street, Westminster, Mr. 
E. Mawley, F.R.H.S., President, in the chair. 
Mr. R. H. Curtis, F.R. Met. Soc. read a paper on 
the exposure of anemometers, in which he gave the 
results of a comparison of the records from the 
three anemometers at Holyhead, viz.: the Robin- 
son, the bridled, and the pressure-tube anemometers. 
It was clearly shown that the force of the wind is 
greatly affected by surrounding objects. The 
author is of opinion that for anemometrical records 
to be reliable and of value, not only must the 
instrument be exposed in an open place free from 
local obstructions, but it is also absolutely essential 
that the stand which carries it shall offer practically 
no resistance to the wind, and that the instrument 
should not be placed on the roof of a house. The 
paper was illustrated by a number of lantern-slides. 
An interesting collection of photographs of clouds, 
sent to the society by Mr. H. C. Russell, F.R.S., 
of the Sydney Observatory, was also exhibited.— 
The last meeting of this society for the present 
session was held on the 17th, at the Institution, 
Mr. E. Mawley, F.R.H.S., President, in the chair. 
Mr. H. Harries read a paper on ‘‘ Arctic Hail and 
Thunder Storms,’’ in which he showed that the 
commonly-accepted opinion that hail and thunder 
storms are almost, if not quite, unknown in the 
Arctic regions is incorrect. He had examined one 
hundred logs of vessels which had visited the 
Arctic regions, and found that out of that number 
no fewer than seventy-three showed that hail was 
experienced at some time or other. Thunder- 
storms were not so frequent as hail, but they have 
been observed in seven months out of the twelve, 
the month of greatest frequency being August. 
Mr. Harries is of opinion that the breeding-place 
of thunderstorms in these high latitudes is in the 
neighbourhood of Barent’s Sea. A paper by Mr. 
J. E. Cullum, on the ‘Climatology of Valentia 
Island,” was also read. The observatory at 
Valencia, which is under the control of the 
Meteorological Office, is situated on the extreme 
south-west coast of Ireland, and is almost the most 
westerly point of Europe. _ 


NorFOLK AND NoRWIcH NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY. 
—The twenty-seventh annual meeting of the Norfolk 
and Norwich Naturalists’ Society was held in the 
Castle Museum on March 3oth last, the President, 
Mr. H. D. Geldart, in the chair. Sir F. G. M. 
Boileau, Bart., F.R.S., F.S.A., was elected Presi- 
dent for the coming session. The vice-presidents. 
treasurer, honorary secretary, auditor, and journal 
and excursion committees were re-elected. Messrs. 
G. C. Eaton, E. Corder, and H. J. Thouless were 
elected to serve on the committee in the place of 
those retiring, in accordance with Law xv. Mr. 
Mottram moved, on behalf of the committee, that 
the dates of the meetings of the society be fixed 
by the committee, and that Laws xxiv. and 
xxv. be altered accordingly. This was carried 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 55 


unanimously. Mr. J. T. Hotblack read ashort paper 
on the black rat at Yarmouth. The President 
(Mr. H. D. Geldart) delivered the annual address. 
He proceeded to make some remarks on the subject 
of Arctic distribution of flowering plants, especially 
with reference to the influence of the glacial epoch 
upon the flora of the British Isles. He denied the 
probability of the destruction of the flora during 
the glacial epoch, a considerable number of species 
showing at the present time enormous powers 
of endurance, and asserted the improbability of 
any land communication having existed between 
Scotland and Greenland, by means of a hypo- 
thetical bridge (marked by the existence of shoals 
between those countries) since the glacial epoch. 
A comparison was made between the existing 
floras of a Greenland belt, from sixty-seven 
degrees to seventy-one degrees N. latitude, and 
a district of Great Britain of an equal number 
of degrees, from fifty-four degrees to fifty- 
eight degrees N. latitude, showing that more 
than half of the species existing in the former are 
common to both, giving ground for supposing that 
they might have held their own in both situations 
during the whole of the glacial epoch. 

THE SoutH LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND 
NaTuRAL History Society.—March 26th. Mr. R. 
South, F.E.S., President, in the chair. Mr. F. 
Enoch, F.L.S., gave an admirable and instructive 
lecture, with lantern illustrations, on ‘‘ The Life 
History of the Tiger Beetle, Cicendela campestris,’’ 
being an epitome of his very numerous observations 
on this insect, both in nature and in confinement, 
during the last five years. Mr. Clark exhibited 
a number of photo-micrographic slides, many of 
which were prepared from specimens lent by 
members of the Society, and a fine example of the 
Roéntgen ray photography.—April 9th. The Presi- 
dent in the chair. Mr. R. Adkin exhibited two 
specimens each of Margarodes unionalis and Mecyna 
polygonalis, which were taken at Dealin 1877, by the 
late Mr. Tugwell, and contributed notes on the 
occurrence of these and other species of Pyralides. 
Mr. Barrett, on behalf of Mr. Capper, of Liverpool, 
some 400 drawings, coloured by hand, by Mr. 
Mosely of Huddersfield, of the varieties existing 
in Mr. Capper’s collection. Mr. Tunaley, a 
lantern for entomological purposes, invented by 
himself, to obviate the inconvenience and smell of 
oil. It was thought that it would be, when com- 
pleted, a capital success. Mr. South, a banded 
specimen of Vanessa urtice, taken alive in his house 
at Tooting, on March 22nd. Mr. Williams, a 
living specimen of Bombylius media. Mr. Perks, a 
specimen of the Morel fungus (Morchella esculenta). 
Mr. Turner, an apparatus sent to him for exhibi- 
tion, for taking moths from a lamp. It could be 
put on the end of a stick and worked by means of 
a string. Mr. McArthur, a bred series of Hypsipetes 
tvifasciavia, from Hoy. They were of a rich 
chestnut colour, and had been reared on heath. 
This was considered to be a most unusual 
food. Mr. Edward exhibited a number of exotic 
Rhopalocera which were examples of mimicry. 
—April 23rd. Mr. T. W. Hall, Vice-President, 
in the chair. Mr. A. Briggs exhibited a male 
specimen of Stylops melitie, taken at Leatherhead 
on April 18th. Messrs. Barrett and Turner, 
series of Tviphena comes (orvbona) from various 
localities. Mr. Atkin, his very long and varied 
series of the same species from many localities in 
the British Islands, and also specimens from Asia 
Minor and Europe. He then read a paper entitled, 
‘‘Further notes on Trifhena comes, with special 


reference to var. curtisii.'' After referring to his 
previous paper on the subject, he discussed at 
length the geographical distribution and variation 
of the species. Its range was from Syria, in the 
east, to the Atlantic coast on the west; and from 
south Sweden and the neighbourhood of Moscow, 


in the north, to the southern shores of the 
Mediterranean Sea on the south. Great Britain 
was its extreme north-west limit, and here 


occurred the greatest variation. In Asia Minor 
the specimens were of a uniform clay colour, 
the increase in intensity, both of colour and 
markings, being very gradual up to its extreme 
north-west limit in the Orkneys, where the 
prevailing form was the var. curtisii. In Scotland, 
the forms of variations were endless. The 
specimens from Scilly had scalloped transverse 
lines very plainly marked. Hethen discussed the 
history and distribution of the var. curtisii, and 
gave as the results of his experiments in breeding, 
that the species was, normally in its southern 
localities, continuous brooded, but in its northern 
limits had acquired the habit of hibernating in its 
larval stage. The extreme colour of var. curtisii 
may have been developed for protection, but 
further observations were nesessary on this point. 
A discussion ensued, in which Mr. Barrett, Mr. 
Tutt and Mr. McArthur joined—May 14th. The 
President in the chair. Mr. Enock exhibited 
specimens of two very rare aquatic Hymenoptera, 
Prestwichia aquatica, which uses its legs in swimming 
and which has not been recorded since its first capture 
in 1865; and Caraphractus cinctus=Polynema natans, 
which uses its wings in swimming. Mr. R. Adkin, 
a bred series of Melanippe hastata, from Sutherland, 
with series of the same from Sussex and co. Cork. 
The larvz of the first were fed on Myrica gale. 
The Cork series had a pale ochreous tone instead 
of the usual dead white ground. The southern 
series were very uniform, whereas the northern 
examples varied considerably in the black markings. 
Mr. Carrington, specimens of Helix aspersa, var. 
exalbida, from Devizes, and made remarks thereon. 
Mr. Barrett, series of Abraxas ulmata and Pieris 
vape, var. cruciferarum, from Japan. The former 
were of the British type, but the latter equalled P. 
brassice in size, had a considerable suffusion of 
black from the base, and in some of the females a 
partial fusion of thespots. Inthe discussion which 
ensued it was suggested that it might be the result 
of abundance of succulent food. Mr. Carrington 
remarked on the hardy constitution of the species in 
Canada, where, during its cycle of life, it experienced 
extremes of temperature from 60 degrees below zero 
to 138 degrees Fahr. Mr. Tutt noted the oscillation 
in abundance and rarity of P. rape in America, 
where it had survived after a great struggle with a 
closely allied indigenous species with which it was 
supposed to have interbred and which was now 
very rare. Mr. Tutt, for Mr. Merriefield, a number 
of specimens of butterflies, bred under various 
degrees of heat and cold: Aglais urtice, Pyramets 
atalanta, Euvanessa antiopa, and Gonepteryx rhamnt. 
He described the variations in detail, and remarked 
that it was mainly the upper sides which had been 
affected, whereas the under sides, which in the 
Rhopalocera were developed for protection, were 
but slightly influenced. Tryphena orbona, var. curtisti, 
and these species were not parallel cases of variation, 
as in the former it was the upper side that was 
projectively coloured. Mr. Clark, living Ento- 
mostraca parasitic on sticklebacks, with a micro- 
photograph, x 30, of the same, the organs of 
attachment being well shown. Mr. Step sent for 


56 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


exhibition specimens of Glaux maritima and Silene 
maritima, and contributed notes on their specific 
characters, structure, habits and time of flowering, 
adding a suggestion that botanists should pay 
attention to the time of flowering of our British 
flora with the view of correcting the innumerable 
errors in botanical works of the day. Mr Tutt 
read a paper, entitled ‘‘Is cold the cause of 
melanism in Scotch specimens of Tryphena orbona?”’ 
in which he showed by magazine references, that 
the area of distribution of T. ovbona, var. curtisii, was 
by no means the coldest portions of the country, 
and that there the sallows flowered quite as early 
asin the south of England. He was of opinion 
that the variation was wholly brought about by 
utility, that the species was protectively coloured. 
In the subsequent discussion several members 
considered that the dark variation in this species 
was a return to an ancestral form, and that every 
evidence showed that the processes of evolution 
were still in progress—Hy. J. Turney (Hon. 
Report Sec.) 

NortH Lonpon NaturaL History SocrETy.— 
Minutes of a meeting held Thursday, March 26th, 
1896. Mr. C. B. Smith, President, in the chair. 
The curator announced a donation from Mr. Bacot 
of a valuable lot of Lepidoptera from our ‘‘ local 
district.’’ The exhibits included: Mr. Prout, a 
series of Caradrvina morpheus, var. obscura, Tutt, bred 
from ova from North London; also a specimen 
of the flavescent Continental type of the species 
from Germany; also, on behalf of Miss Dale, 
several interesting plants from Sandown. Mr. 
R. W. Robbins, Anemone fulgens, double, showing 
stamens, etc., developed into petals; also two 
specimens of Spilosoma urtice, and two of Cidaria 
fulvata, to illustrate a method of labelling. This 
was followed by some phenological remarks upon 
the early season by Misses Simmons and Nicholson, 
Messrs. Austin, Battley, C. Nicholson, R. W. Rob- 
bins and Woodward. Mr. Prout read a paper on the 
“Flora of Sandown District of the Isle of Wight.” 
This he bounded on the north and north-east by 
Brading and Bembridge Down, on the south-east 
by the coast-line, on the south by Lake and 
Black Pan, and on the west and north-west 
by Bordwood, Youngwood and Alverstone. He 
gave a long and exhaustive account of the plants 
he had met with in the district, of which the best 
was perhaps Orobanche cerulea, and was able to 
make several additions to Townsend’slist. Dealing 
with the subject of white varieties, he remarked : 
‘“Tt seems to me to be very noticeable that the 
large majority of cases in which these white 
varieties appear are those of normally red, purple, 
or even blue flowers; and that, as they certainly 
occur too regularly and in too healthy plants to be 
attributed to mere failure of colour through any 
diseased or abnormal conditions, they can pretty 
safely be viewed as instances of reversion. Grant 
Allen so regards them in his little book on ‘ The 
Colours of Flowers,’ and he remarks that, ‘ where 
the red and purple is very deeply engrained, as in 
labiates, reversion to white occurs less commonly.’ 
From this point of view, the variable little Polygala 
(milk-wort) is at present in a somewhat unsettled 
condition, ‘a process of modification,’ pink being 
its normal colour, blue a progression, white a 
retrogression. Perhaps I need hardly remind you 
that it is pretty generally conceded that the genetic 
sequence of colour in flowers is from green through 
yellow to white, thence on to pink, red, and purple, 
and finally (the most highly specialized), to blue. 
Amongst the flowers at present under our notice, 


there is one, however, in which the white variety 
cannot be a reversion if the foregoing order of 
colour sequence is correct. This is the common 
broom. I have not seen the variety in question, 
and therefore cannot venture to pronounce upon it ; 
but one is certainly not accustomed to expect white 
varieties in the yellow flowers, and where they 
occur, as for example occasionally in species of 
ranunculus, they rather present a bleached appear- 
ance which suggests to one that there is a failure of 
pigment, not a progression in development, in fact 
that they are pathological rather than phylo- 
genetic.” Mr. R. W. Robbins recorded a white 
variety of the viper’s bugloss from Boxhill. Mr. 
Austin believed the raven and the peregrine 
falcon were still building in the island. Mr. L. J. 
Tremayne enquired whether Euupithecia virgaureata 
was recorded trom the Isle of Wight. Messrs. C. 
Nicholson, Jennings and Harvey also joined in 
the discussion.—Lawyence J. Tremayne (Hon. Sec.) 


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Att editorial communications, books or instruments for 
review, specimens for identification, etc., to be addressed to 
Joun T. CARRINGTON, I, Northumberland Avenue, London, 
W.C. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 


S. E. Hitt (St. Alban’s).—The little animals are mites 
(Acavus), but too dry and broken to identify specifically. 

J. Wetsurn (Driffield)—The plant is ‘‘field-madder” 
(Sharardia arvensis), common among clover and corn. It 
appears to be harmless to cattle and sheep, even if they eat 
it. Some authors say they thrive uponit. It is frequently 
temporally abundant in cultivated fields. 

E. A. Ciirt (Southampton).—You will find full particulars 
in answer to your enquiries in Dr. Knaggs’ “ Lepidopterist’s 
Guide’? (Cooke and Son, Museum Street, London, W.C., 
price one shilling). Set your butterflies and moths well 
forward, and not sloping down; place two-thirds up the pin, 
and set on a rather flat block. 


EXCHANGES. 
Noticr.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including 
name and address) admitted free, but additional words must 
be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words 


or less. 

Cuckoos’ EGGS with those of foster parent wanted.— 
W. Wells Bladen, Stone, Staffordshire. 

OFFERED, SCIENCE-GossIP, 1890-1895, ‘‘ Naturalist’s Jour- 
nal,” 1894-1895. Wanted, trilobites and Flatter’s slides; in 
return, Shells, fossils, unmounted objects, etc,—A. Sclater, 
Northumberland Place, Teignmouth. ~ 

A SPLENDID series of spongiform flints, etc., from Mid- 
Kent, illustrating Bowerbank’s ‘‘Silicious Bodies of the 
Chalk,” in exchange for lower cretaceous polyzoa (named). 
—W. Gamble, 2, West Street, New Brompton, Kent. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 57 


JX AA NS ES) ds 2 ae 


AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF SOME HITHERTO UNFIGURED HELICIDAE, 


By Ga kc GupEy.Z.S: 


ORASIA LAURAE, n. sp.—Testa imperforata, 
orbiculate depressa, tenuis, obliquis cre- 
berrimis striis distincta, quae striis spiralibus 
decussantur ; subpellucida, nitida, pallide coerulea ; 
media pars anfractus ultimi vivide coerulescens, 
fascia lutea sub sutura ornata; spira convexa, 
obtusa; apex pallide lutea vel albida; sutura 
leviter impressa; anfr. 44, convexi; peripheria 
acute carinata, pars superior paulum crenulata ; 
anfr. ultimus antice breviter deflexus; apertura 
obliqua, subtrigona; peristoma simplex, tenue, 
margine superiori paulum expanso, gibboso, luteo, 
basali breviter reflexo, columellari arcuate declivi, 
compresso, paulum excavato, ex albido coerulescens. 
—Diam. maj. 19-25, min. 16-22, alt. 11-13 mm. 


Fig. 1.—Corasia laurae. 


Hab.—North Luzon, Philippine Islands. 

Shell imperforate, orbiculately depressed, thin, 
obliquely and closely striate, decussated with spiral 
lines, sub-pellucid, shining, pale blue; the middle of 
the last whorl vivid blue, with a yellow band under 
the suture; spire convex, obtuse; apex pale yellow 
or whitish; suture slightly impressed; whorls 44, 
convex ; periphery acutely keeled, the upper side 
of the keel slightly crenulate; last whorl shortly 
descending in front ; aperture oblique, subtrigonal ; 
peristome simple, thin; upper margin slightly 
expanded, gibbous, yellow; basal margin shortly 
reflexed; columellar margin arcuately sloping, 
compressed, slightly excavated, bluish white. 

The shell here figured was received by me from 
Mr. Hugh Fulton, of 216, Fulham Road, London, 
under the name of Corasia psittacina, Desh., but on 
comparison with the description and figure of that 
species, ‘‘ Journal de Conchyliologie,” ix., (1861), 
p. 350, t. 16, f. 3-5, it was evident that the two 
shells were distinct, and this opinion was con- 
firmed by an examination of the specimens of 
Corasia psittacina in the British Museum collection. 
Although undoubtedly belonging to the phylum of 
Corasia psittacina, the characters which separate 
Covasia lauvae from that species, are sufficient to 
warrant its being raised to specific rank, and as it 
does not appear to have been previously charac- 
terized, I venture to publish it as a new species. 


AuaustT, 1896.—No. 27, Vol. III. 


It differs from Corasia psittacina in having the 
whorls more flattened ; it has an acute compressed 
keel which is crenulated above, while in Covrasia 
psittacina, the periphery is rounded and sub-angular ; 
the last whorl is less widened towards the aperture, 
more contracted behind the peristome, and abruptly 
descending in front ; the aperture is more triangu- 
lar in outline, the margins are more approximating, 
and the columellar margin is more arcuate and less 
sloping. All the specimens which Mr. Fulton 
obligingly showed me, six or seven in number, 
agreed in the above-noted characters, but, as 
already indicated, some variation in size was 
observable. This beautiful species is named in 
honour of Miss Laura Andrew. 


SoME UNFIGURED SHELLS. 


Among the large number of shells which regret- 
tably remain unfigured, the following—from the 
Philippine Islands. Marianne Islands, and Spain— 
amongst others, have come into my possession, 
and I have thought it useful to give illustrations 
of them. 

GANESELLA CATOCYRTA.—Described by Quadras 
and Moellendorff as Satswma catocyrta in ‘‘ Nach- 
richtsblatt der Deutschen Malakozoologischen 
Gesellschaft,” 1895, p. 115, as follows :—'' T.anguste 
et fere omnino obtecte perforata, elate turbinata, 


Fig. 2.—Ganesella catocyrta. 


solidula, subpellucida, subtiliter striatula et lineis 
spiralibus sub lente fortiore yix conspicuis decussa- 
tula, nitens, pallide flavescens, taeniis 2, una 
angustiore prope suturam, altera latiore supra 
peripheriam castaneis ornata; spira valde elevata 
lateribus fere strictis, apice obtusulo. Anfr. 7, 
primi 5 fere plani, penultimus convexiusculus, 
ultimus convexior, ad peripheriam obtuse sub- 
carinatus, basi tumidus, gibber, pone aperturam 
breviter valde deflexus. Apertura 
truncato-elliptica, peristoma 
basi reflexiusculum, margine 


contractus, 
maxime  obliqua, 
modice expansum, 
columellari superne valde dilatato subrecurvato, 
obtegente.—Diam. 


perforationem fere omnino 


maj. 17-18, alt. 17°5-19, apert. lat. 11-12, long. 


D 


58 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


9'5-10'5, alt. 5 75-6 mm.—Hab. in insula Malagom 
Archipelagi Calamianes, leg. coll. indigena.”’ 

[Shell narrowly perforate, almost entirely 
covered, elevated, conical, somewhat solid, sub- 
transparent, finely striated and decussated with 
spiral lines scarcely visible under a somewhat strong 
lens, shining pale yellow, ornamented withtwo brown 
bands, one narrow near the suture, the other wider 
above the periphery ; spire much elevated, almost 
narrow laterally, apex very obtuse; whorls, 7, first 
5 almost flat; penultimate whorl somewhat convex ; 
last whorl more convex, obtusely keeled at the 
periphery ; base swollen, gibbous, contracted behind 
the aperture, shortly strongly deflected; aperture 
very oblique, truncate-elliptic; peristome mode- 


a thread-like margin, last whorl sub-acutely keeled, 
both sides well separated from the keel, shortly 
but strongly deflexed in front, base slightly convex ; 
aperture strongly oblique, lanceolate ; peristome 
above scarcely, outwardly and below strongly 
expanded; base much reflexed ; columellar margin 
strongly dilated above; umbilicus almost covered. 

Var. apiculata, a little higher; whorls 6, base of 
last whorl a little more convex. ] 

I figure a specimen of the type (fig. 3), diam. maj. 
185, min. 17, alt. 14.5 mm., and of the variety 
(fig. 4), diam. maj. 15, min. 14, alt. 13°5 mm. 

ENDODONTA (CHAROPA) QUADRASI.—Described 
by Moellendorff as Patula quadvasi, op. cit., 1894, 
p- 14, as follows :—'' T. aperte umbilicata, 


Fig 3.—Ganesella apex. 


rately expanded, base reflexed, columellar margin 
strongly dilated above, almost recurved; umbilicus 
almost entirely covered. ] 

I figure a specimen (fig. 2), diam. maj. 16, min. 
15, alt. 17. 

GANESELLA APEX.—Described by Quadras and 
Moellendorff as Satsuma apex, op. cit., 1896, 
p. 7, as follows:—‘‘T. anguste et fere obtecte 
umbilicata, trochiformis, tenuiscula, pellucida, 
oblique striatula, lineis spiralibus sat distinctis et 
plicis rugulosis subtilibus oblique antrorsum decur- 
rentibus sculpta, nitens, pallide flavescens; spira 
valde elevata lateribus sat concavis, apice obtusulo 
glabrato, fusco. Anfr. 64, plani, sutura per carinam 
subexsertam filomarginata disjuncti, ultimus carina 
subacuta, utrimque bene exserta carinatus, antice 
breviter sed valde deflexus, basi paullum convexus. 
apertura maxime obliqua, lanceolata, peristoma 
superne vix, extus et basi magis expansum, basi 
reflexiusculum, margine columellari superne valde 
dilatato, umbilicum fere obtegente—Diam. 18, 
alt. 14.5 mm. 

“Var. apiculata (Mlldff.). Minor, paullo altior, 
anfr. 6, ultimus basi paullo magis convexus. 
—Diam. 16, alt. 13.25 mm.—Hab. in insulis 
Calamianes leg. coll. indigena.”’ 

[Shell narrowly umbilicate, almost covered, 
trochiform, somewhat thin, transparent, obliquely 
striate, sculptured with rather distinct spiral lines 
and finely wrinkled oblique folds, which are 
antrorsely decurrent, shining, pale yellowish ; spire 
much elevated, sides sufficiently concave, apex 
obtuse, glabrous, dark; whorls 6%, flat, suture 
projecting from the keel, the whorls separated by 


Fig. 4.—G. apex v. apiculata. 


umbilico 4 diametri adaequante, discoideo-depressa, 
tenuis, striis transversis tenuibus, lineis spiralibus 
maxime confertis et plicis arcuatis sat validis 
distantibus sculpta, in plicis et lineis spiralibus 
cuticula membranacea valde decidua lamellatim 
obduta, fuscobrunnea; spira vix elevata apice 
plano. Anfr. 4% planiusculi, infra medium sat 
concavi, fere sulcati, carina rotundata per plicas 
undulata carinati, ultimus non descendens. Apert. 
modice obliqua rotundato-securiformis, peristoma 
simplex acutum.—Diam. maj. 5, min 4'5, alt. 
2mm.” 

[Shell openly umbilicated ; umbilicus equal to 
4 of the diameter; depressed discoid, thin, 
sculptured with very thin transverse striae, very 
close spiral lines and 
rather strong dis- 
tant arcuate folds, 
covered in the folds 
and spiral lines with 
a very deciduous 
membranous cuticle, dark brown; spire scarcely 
elevated; apex flat; whorls 44, somewhat flat, 
below rather concave in the middle, almost sulcate ; 
keel rounded, undulated along the folds; last 
whorl not descending, aperture moderately oblique, 
roundly axe-shaped; peristome simple acute. ] 

I figure a specimen (fig. 5) from Guajan Island, 
Marianne Islands, diam. maj. 4°5, min. 4, alt. 
2mm. 

ENDODONTA (CHAROPA) FUSCA.—Described by 
Quadras and Moellendorff as Patula fusca, op. cit., 
1894, p. 13, as follows :—‘‘T. modice sed aperte 
umbilicata, umbilico 4 diametri adaequante, 


Fig. 5.—Endodonta quadrast. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 59 


lenticularis, tenuis, striis transversis pliciformibus 
et lineis spiralibus valde confertis sculpta, opaca, 
fusca; spira parum elevata. Anfr. 4, planiusculi, 
infra medium subconcavi, lente accrescentes, 
sutura profundiuscula discreti, acute carinati, 
carina crenata ad suturas paullum exserta, ultimus 
vix descendens, basi convexiusculus, circa um- 
bilicum indistincte angulatus. Apertura modice 
obliqua, securiformis, peristoma simplex, acutum. 
—Diam. maj. 6, min. 5°5, alt. 2°75 mm.” 

[Shell mode- 
rately but openly 
umbilicated, um- 
bilicus equal to 
one-quarter of the 
diameter ; lens- 
shaped, thin, sculp- 
tured with transverse folded striae and very 
close spiral lines, opaque, brown; spire a little 
raised ; whorls 4, flattened, sub-concave below 
the middle, slowly increasing; suture deeply 
impressed, acutely keeled; keel crenate at the 
suture, a little exserted; last whorl scarcely des- 
cending ; base somewhat convex, indistinctly 
angulated round the umbilicus; aperture mode- 
rately oblique, axe-shaped; peristome simple 
acute. | 

The specimen figured (fig. 6) is from Guam Island, 
Marianne Islands.—Diam. maj. 6, min. 5°5, alt. 
2°5 mm. 

TROCHOMORPHA (VIDENA) BOETTGERI, — Des- 
cribed by Moellendorff, op. cit., 1890, p. 201, as 
follows :—‘* T. umbilicata, umbilico 4 diam. adae- 
quante, depressa, discoidea, peracute carinata ; 
solidiuscula, corneo-straminea, opaca, utrimque 
brunneo-taeniata, taeniis angustis a carina remotis ; 
spira perparum elevata, subconvexa. Anfr. 53 
subplani, lente accrescentes, interdum pallidiore 


Fig. 6.—Endodonta fusca. 


Fig. 7.—Trochomorpha boettgeri. 


discreti, striatuli, minutissime granulati, ultimus 
non descendens, subtus distincte spiraliter striatus, 
circa umbilicum angulatus, penultimo vix latior. 
Apertura obliqua, irregulariter triangularis, peris- 
toma simplex, antrorsum protractus, subdeflexus, 
basalis bene curvatus, callosus, columellaris 
subreflexus.—Diam. max. 194-20, alt. 6-64.—Hab. 
in insulis Tablas et Romblon, leg. cl. J. Quadras.” 

[Shell umbilicated, umbilicus equal to one-fifth 
of the diameter; depressed discoid, very acutely 
keeled, somewhat solid, hornish yellow, opaque 


with a brown band on both sides, separated from 
the keel by a narrow band; spire very little 
raised, sub-convex ; whorls 54, sub-plane, slowly 
increasing, suture appressed, sometimes rather 
pale, striated, minutely granulated, last whorl not 
descending, distinctly spirally striated below, angu- 
lated round the umbilicus, penultimate whorl 
scarcely wider; aperture oblique, irregularly tri- 
angular, peristome simple, whitish, upper margin 
short, protracted in front, sub-deflexed, basal 
margin well curved, callous, collumellar margin 
sub-reflexed. | 

I figure a specimen from Tablas, Philippine 
Islands (fig. 7), received from Herr Bruno Strubell, 
of Frankfort-on-Main.—Diam. maj. 18, min. 16°5, 
alt. 6 mm. The shell was originally referred by 
Hidalgo ‘‘ Journal de Conchyliologie”’ xxxv (1887), 
p. 94, to Trochomorpha conomphala, Pfeiffer, but as 
stated by Mr. Pilsbry (‘‘ Manual of Conchology,” ix. 
(1895), p. 337), the type so named, which is in the 
British Museum, has been examined by Mr. 
Ponsonby, and proves to be an immature Obba 


parmula, of which, 
therefore, the name 
Trochomorpha conom- 


phala, Pfr. is a syno- 
nym. 

PYRAMIDULA (GONY- 
ODISCUS) OMALISMA.— 
Described by M. Paul 
Fagot as Helix omalis- 
ma, of Bourguignat, 
in ‘Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle 
de Toulouse” xiii (1879), p. 289, as follows :— 
“ Testa latissime ad summum umbilicata, depressa, 
vix convexa, costis regularibus, curvatis, ele- 
ganter ornata; spira perdepressa; apice parvo, 
obtuso, obtusa vix mamillato; anfractibus 6, sub- 
planulatis, lente ac regulariter crescentibus, sutura 
impressa separatis; ultimo non majore, ad aper- 
turam dilatato, non descendente, supra fere plano, in 
medio carinato, infra convexo, tumido; apertura 
obliqua, transverse lunata; marginibus convergen- 
tibus; peristomate recto, simplici, acuto.—Alt. 2, 
diam. 6 mm. 

Espéce du group des Helix rotundata, Muller, 
abietina, Bourguignat, etc., caractérisée par une 
spire presque plane en dessus, a l’encontre de ses 
congéneéres. 

Au quartier de Caraman, Commune d’Avig- 
nonet.”’ 

[Shell widely umbilicated, depressed, scarcely 
convex, provided with regular, curved, elegant 
ribs ; spire much depressed; apex small, obtuse, 
scarcely mamillate; whorls 6, sub-plane, slowly, 
regularly increasing, suture impressed distinct ; 
last whorl not larger than preceding, widened 
at the mouth, not descending, above almost flat, 
angular at the middle, convex, tumid below; 


Fig. 8.—Pyramidula omalisma. 
s J 


D2 


60 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


aperture oblique, transverse lunate, margins 
approaching; peristome straight, simple, acute. } 

Pyramidula perspectiva appears to be the nearest 
ally of this species, but the latter differs in having 
much closer and less coarse ribs, a more flattened 
spire, and a less impressed suture. 

The specimen here figured (fig. 8) was 
obtained from Bruch, near Barcelona, through 
Mr. J. E. Cooper, of Highgate; its dimensions 
are: diam., maj. 7°25, min. 6:5, alt. 2°75 mm. 


Westerlund (‘‘Fauna der in der Palaarctischen 
Region lebenden Binnenconchylien” i., p. EI) 
gives as habitat: France—Basses-Pyrenées and 
Dordogne; Spain—Montserrat. 

Mr. Pilsbry, in ‘‘ Manual of Conchology,’’ ix. 
(1895), p. 341, has altered the name to Pyramidula 
omalisiana, stating the name omalisma to be a 
printer’s error, but on referring to the original 
description, I find the name as cited above. 

5, Giesbach Road, London, N.; July 24th, 1896. 


COMMENSALISM OF DAPHNIA AND ROTIFERS. 


By Major-GENERAL WARRAND, R.E. 


Or June 28th I was out shepherding on my 

farm in Nottinghamshire (a loamy clay soil 
in the Keuper or new red sandstone) when I saw 
on a small pond in a grass field a number of red 
patches, apparently of the blood of some animal. 
The red patches varied in size from half a square 
foot to four or five square feet. I thought that 
some animal must have had an accident, and asked 
the shepherd if any cow or sheep was missing, 
but it turned out that every animal of my herd was 
safe and in good health. It struck me that the red 
patches must be due to some alge, and the next 
morning my man brought me a small bottle of-the 
water, which I found to be one mass of Daphnia 
pulex, to which clung an innumerable host of 
rotifers very like Pomphobyx sulcata (fig. 2, plate 
xxvii., of Hudson and Gosse). 

Mr. Baird (page 78 of ‘‘ British Entomostraca’’) 
says: ‘On a sunshiny day, in a large pond, a 
streak of red, a foot broad and ten or twelve yards 
in length, will suddenly appear in a particular 
spot, and this belt may be seen rapidly changing 
its position, and in a very short time wheel 
completely round the pond. Should the mass 
come near enough to the edge to allow the 
shadow of the observer to fall upon them, or 
should a dark cloud suddenly obscure the 
sun, the whole body immediately disappears, 
rising to the surface again when they have reached 
beyond the shadow, or as soon as the cloud has 
passed over.” 

In my pond, however, which was only about 
twelve yards long and six yards wide, the red host 
took no notice of the shadow, or of a bottle being 
thrown in their midst to catch them; they were 
of all sizes, and packed together in an extra- 
ordinary manner, and remained in this packed 
state for at least three days. 

The rotifers and daphnia evidently dwell 
together in the partnership known as ‘‘ Com- 
mensalism’’ ‘see ScIENCE-GossIP, vol. iii., p. 5), 


the former get conveyed from place to place 
without any exertion of their own, and conse- 
quently find an advantage in attaching themselves 
to the daphnia; but often a daphnia gets over- 
burdened by its friends, who sometimes, to the 
number of at least a dozen, will take the oppor- 
tunity of providing themselves with an easy mode 
of locomotion by attaching their tails to various 
parts of the body of their host. When the daphnia 
were placed in a watch-glass several of them died, 
but their attendant rotifers at once attached 
themselves to the survivors, and, as above stated, 
an unfortunate daphnia might be seen together 
with at least a dozen Pomphobyx. 

I was asked a short time since to send some 
rotifers from this neighbourhood, by post, to a 
friend in the south of England who is clever at 
mounting and preserving them by Mr. Rousselet’s 
process. He warned me not to send Entomos- 
trace in the same tube as the rotifers, as the 
latter would get eaten by the former on their 
journey. So I suppose that it is well known 
that rotifers form to some extent an article of 
food for the water-fleas, and instead of being a 
case of commensalism, this, I think, may account 
for the daphnia congregating in patches, in order 
that each creature may destroy the tormentors of 
its neighbours. In the same way horses collect 
together when attacked by the gadfly and defend 
each other from the attacks of their small per- 
secutors, by biting and rubbing each others backs, 
preventing the flies from settling, thus forming a 
sort of ‘‘ mutual accommodation society.”’ 

Perhaps some of your scientific readers will be 
able to give a better explanation as to why the 
Entomostrace should pack themselves together in 
the manner above stated. It was evidently not 
caused by a desire for sunning themselves, as 
stated by Mr. Baird, for they remained in much 
the same places for at least three days. __ 

Westhorpe, Southwell, Notts ; July 1oth, 1896. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 61 


VARIATIONS OF THE LEAF-BLADE. 
By H. E. Griser. ; 


OTWITHSTANDING the numerous forces 
that concur in the modification of the pecu- 

liar external form of plants, a constant type is 
maintained for the same species so long as they 
exist under the sameconditions. Let these conditions 
be changed and minute differences will be observed 
in the colour, size or form of the leaves, flowers, 
and other organs, which, if long continued, become 
more marked and finally give origin to those 
natural sub-species and varieties which seem to 
connect one species with another. In this article 
it is my intention to show some of the variations to 
which the leaf-blade is subject in relation to the 
above and other forces. The leaf-blades of many 


blade is usually broadly cordiform (fig. 6); it is 
not unusual to find plants in shady places with all 
the leaves narrow hastate, with large rounded 
basal lobes divergent from the mid-rib at an angle 
of 120° (fig. 7). 

Some plants of Ranunculus aquatilis have all the 
leaves multifid, while others, especially in deep 
pools, have palmately lobed or partite floating 
leaves (sub-sp. hetevophyllus). The lowest leaves are 
always the most multifid. 

The leaves of Leontodon tavaxacum are rather 
variable as to their division, sometimes being very 
undulated or lacinate and dentate; while at other 
times plants may be seen in which the lobes of the 


Fig. 1, large leaf of Crategus oxyacantha; fig. 2, typical leaf of Solanum dulcamara ; figs. 3-4, excessive 
variations of leaves of S. dulcamara. All two-thirds nat. size. 


climbing and twining plants are very prone to 
great modification, such as the leaves of the barren 
stems of the common ivy, which are produced of 
such different shape by cultivation. 

The common form of the lamina of Solanwm dulca- 
mara, is three-partite, the large terminal lobe being 
ovate, with a pair of divergent basal ones, (fig. 2) ; 
in dry places they may sometimes be found quite 
entire (fig. 3), and then closely analogous to the 
leaves of Atropa belladonna ; and in damp and shady 
woods they are five-partite, or even seven-partite, as 
the one drawn here (fig. 4), found by the writer ina 
dark pine-wood in Kent ; they consequently resemble 
the pinnate leaves of solanaceous plants like the 
tomato; the terminal lobe may vary from broadly 
ovate to narrow lanceolate. 

In the black bryony, Tamus communis, the leaf- 


upper part are pretty regular and almost sinuate 
(fig. 5). A large leaf of this species I found measured 
twenty-nine inches in length ; it was proportionally 
narrower than the common type of the leaf. These 
examples seem to point out that excessive dampness 
favours the sub-division (or hinders the formation 
of the parenchyma?) of the leaf-blade, which is 
well illustrated in Ranunculus aquatilis. 

A solitary plant of Mercurialis perennis, growing 
among many others of the same species, had 
narrow lanceolate leaves (fig. 8). 

As to size, the leaves of many plants differ 
greatly, according to the position they occupy on 
stem; those nearest the root, being largest and 
most divided, are the first to appear in spring, as is 
well seen in many poplars and the horse-chestnuts. 
A leaf of Quercus robur was 8°5 inches long, and 3°25 


62 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


inches across the broadest lobes; and another of 
Salix alba measured 8:9 inches long (exclusive of 
the petiole which was 7 inch), and 1°5 inches 
broad. In damp, shady woods I have often found 
the trifoliate leaves of Ovalis acetosella to measure 
27 inches across. Fig. 1 represents a large leaf of 
Crategus oxyacantha; it is 4 inches long, including 


brown maculz, with either of these colours alone or 
spotless. 

The leaves of Orchis maculata and O. mascula are 
variable in the number and size of the spots, and 
are often spotless as well as the flowers, which are 
then white, in specimens growing in very shady 
pine-woods. 


The median spot of the leaves of 


Fig. 5, sub-sinuose leaf of Leontodon taraxacum ; fig. 6, typical leaf of Tamus communis ; fig. 7, slender 


form, same species; fig. 8, narrow form of Mercurialis. 


the petiole, and 3:25 inches across the lowest pair 
of lobes. 

The colouration and spotting of leaves is anything 
but constant; the leaves of Ranunculus ficaria 
(which are found from reniform crenate to palmately 
five-lobed or hederceform, and consequently 
resemble those of R. hedevaceus, L.) are indiscrimi- 


nately seen variegated with silvery-grey and dark- ~ 


All one-third nat. size. 


Lamium maculatum are sometimes wanting; while 
the leaves of Avum maculatum may be spotless or 
more or less covered with minute specks or large 
spots, which are sometimes concave or saccate 
beneath. The want of light or something in the 
soil must be the cause of this great differentiation 
of colouring. 


3, Cathcart Hill, Junction Road, London, N. 


CHAPTERS HO ke iO UNG, ON/Adl Uiessle Sais. 


(Continued from Vol. II., page 101.) 


PLANT LIFE. 


By RupoiF BEER, F.L.S. 


be we analyse the life of a vegetable organism, 

we see that it is manifested in various ways. 
In the first place we notice that there is a curious 
balance maintained with regard to the weight of 
the plant, slowly but ceaselessly it is wasting away 
and losing weight, but just as constantly it is 
replenishing its loss with fresh material. These 
two facts present us with two features of vegetable 
life: on the one hand with the process of breathing, 
which gives rise to a loss of body substance, upon 
the other with the process of feeding, by which 
the loss is again made good. Besides this, every 
plant is always regulating and adjusting itself to 
its surroundings by virtue of what is known as its 
sensitiveness or irritability ; and finally the plant, 
so to speak, has an eye for the future in that it 


reproduces itself either by seeds, or spores or 
‘‘cuttings.”’ 

Vegetable life, then, is manifested in four ways: 
(1) by respiration or breathing; (2) by nutrition 
or feeding; (3) by irritability ; and (4) by repro- 
duction. 

It requires the aid of a microscope to learn how 
extremely complex is plant structure, and I may 
add that there is a far more complicated structure 
underlying this again, which is, however, too fine 
and delicate for us to see, except by special 
methods. A plant has been compared to an 
engine, in which certain things act upon this 
structure which I have mentioned, and produce 
results comparable with the work performed by 
a steam-engine. There is much to recommend 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 63 


this view. In the first place it is the heat from 
the furnace of the engine which is the ultimate 
source of its work. The same is true of all living 
things, whether plants or animals, or human 
beings. That we are warmer than our surround- 
ings is an evident fact, and this warmth is 
generated from what we may truly describe as a 
smouldering fire spread over the whole length and 
breadth of our bodies. In this burning of our 
body, exactly the same gases are produced as in 
the burning of a candle or of a fire. It is this 
process of slow combustion which allows us to 
move, and to think, andto act; indeed, which gives 
us our lives. It drives us, just as the fire of the 
furnace drives the engine. 

Precisely the same holds true for plants. It is 
easy to show that they are warmer than their 
surroundings, and that they are constantly genera- 
ting the same gases as are to be found in our 
breath or in the vapours surrounding an ordinary 
fire. When a candle burns, its substance wastes 
away and is gradually disseminated in the atmos- 
phere in the form of gases. This loss of substance 
is the invariable accompaniment of combustion, 
and is to be found in our own living bodies or in 
those of plants as much and as plainly as ina 
burning coal or in a lighted taper. The great 
distinction between the process of combustion in 
an inanimate substance and that going on in a 
living body—breathing as we there term it—lies in 
the fact that the former burns itself, often fiercely 
and quickly, entirely to invisible gases, whilst the 
latter, viz., the living body, has every particle 
it thus loses recompensated by a_ balancing 
process which is always going on side by side with 
respiration. We, all of us, are familiar with the 
sensation of hunger. This is Nature’s means of 
telling us that we have lost as much of our bodily 
material as is good for us, and that we must now 
by some means restore what we have lost. I need 
not add that this restoration is effected by the 
process of feeding. In plants, likewise, the 
phenomenon of feeding or nutrition is the agent 
balancing the loss of substance undergone in 
breathing. 

It is to this characteristic and important pheno- 
menon of living things, as we find it in the vegetable 
kingdom, that we must now turn. Since we have 
seen that nutrition is the factor restoring the plant 
body to its original weight after this has decreased 
through the necessary processes of respiration, it is 
evident that in seeking the nature of the food of 
plants we have an excellent guide in the nature of 
the plant substance itself. Examination will show 
us that the chief and most important constituent of 
the plant body is a compound of three simple 
chemical elements: carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. 
Carbon is familiar to everyone as charcoal, oxygen 
as one of the gases of the air, and hydrogen as a 


somewhat similar gas which can be prepared from 
water. If a plant can obtain such a carbon- 
compound as this, it can readily join it to other 
things and build it up into its substance. 

Looking at the surroundings of the plant, we see 
that the soil into which its roots dip is, or should 
be, soaked with water up to a certain limit. The 
air which envelops the shoot also is found to 
contain a certain proportion of carbonic acid gas. 
If either of these two things be entirely withheld 
the plant flags and then dies. Analysing water 
and carbonic acid gas chemically, we see that the 
former consists of hydrogen and oxygen, the latter 
of carbon and oxygen; in other words, that between 
them they contain the same three elements as the 
carbon-compound above mentioned as forming food 
stuff. Further study shows us that the water of 
the soil enters the plant through the hairs which 
clothe the root, that it then passes into a system of 
pipes or vessels which convey it up the stem to the 
leaf, and that in the tissues of this organ it meets 
the carbonic acid gas which has found its way 
from the air through the pores which cover the 
surfaces of the leaf. Examined microscopically, 
the leaf shows itself to be filled with numberless 
green granules, called chlorophyll grains; these 
have the very highest importance in vegetable 
nutrition, and are the cause of the green colour 
which foliage leaves nearly always have. As the 
sunshine falls upon them, these chlorophyll grains 
have the power of absorbing it ; they act as so many 
little traps to the light, and just as sunlight falling 
upon a photographic plate effects wonderful changes 
in it, resulting in the production of a picture, so 
does this same light when caught and directed by 
the chlorophyll grains of the leaf, also bring about 
extraordinary alterations in the materials lying 
around and bathing the granules. These substances 
are water and carbonic acid gas, and the effect of 
this chlorophyll directed light is to bring about the 
chemical union of these two things to form such a 
carbon-compound, as I have already mentioned, as 
a useful food material for the plant. This com- 
pound, which first visibly makes its appearance in 
the substance of the green grains, is called starch; 
it is not quite the first substance to be formed, but 
it is the first which we can plainly see. It is 
afterwards dissolved and united with yet other 
things that have been absorbed from the soil, such 
as nitrogen and sulphur, and finally built up into 
the living material of the plant itself, compensating 
it for its loss through respiration. 

I mentioned earlier in my paper that a living 
plant or animal in many respects resembled an 
engine; but we now come to a striking point of 
difference between the two things. The engine 
is rigid and inflexible, whether the air around it be 
warm or cold, whether in darkness or light, 
whether in bright sunshine or in rain, the same 


a3 


64 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


work is carried out, depending only on the fire in 
the furnace and the water in the boiler. Living 
things, however, are marked off from all other 
objects in Nature by the remarkable power of self- 
adjustment they possess. 

For instance, we have already seen that light is 
an essential factor in the nutrition of plants. Rays 
of a certain intensity musi fall upon the green 
grains of the leaf; but if too much light were to 
meet them, their delicate mechanism would be 
overstrained and irreparable ruptures would take 
place. In living plants, however, these dangers 
are obviated by the wonderful changes that take 
place in the arrangement of the parts of the leaf in 
accordance with the quantity of light which falls 
upon them. If we examine a leaf microscopically 
we shall see that it is built up of a large number of 
infinitely small boxes or ‘‘cells” piled up side by 
side and one over the other, io give the leaf its 
outward shape. Each of these cells contains some 
of the green chlorophyll grains which we have 
already learnt io know. If nowaleaf be examined 
which has been exposed to only moderate illumina- 
tion, it will be found that the chlorophyll grains 
are all arranged upon the upper and lower surfaces 
of the cells, so that all the light which falls upon 
the leaf would direcily meet them. If the same 
plant be then exposed io bright sunlight and 
another leaf examined, it will be noticed that the 
green grains have all travelled away from the 
upper and lower surfaces and are now drawn up 
along the side wails of the cells, so that only a 
minimum of light can fall upon them, and they are 
protected from the harmful effecis of a too intense 
illumination. This is only one of many changes 
that are effected in the plant body by alterations 
in the degree.oi light. 

Again, another remarkable adaptation to circum- 
stances is shown by the tendrils of climbing-plants. 
lt is the duty of these structures io cling to rigid 
supports, and so raise the slender stem of the 
climber high up into the air and light. If you 
carefully watch a itendril—for instance that of 
Tacsonia—you will see a sirange phenomenon 
taking place under your eyes. As the tendril grows 
out from the stem, it continually sweeps round and 
round in an ever-widening circle, seeking as it were 
with blind eyes for some support to which it can 
cling, groping like a man in the dark for something 
to guide its progress. “It was an interesting 
spectacle” says Charles Darwin, in his work on 
“Climbing Plants,” ‘to see the long tendril sweep- 
ing this grand circle, night and day, in search of 
some object round which to twine.” 

With regard io the cause of this movement, I 
need only say that it is due to the unequal growth 
of the different sides of the tendril, so that its apex 
points to each direction of the compass in turn. 
If such a tendril be gently pressed or rubbed at any 


point, it at once evinces its sensitiveness to contact 
by bending vigorously and rapidly at the point 
which was touched. In nature the same thing 
occurs: as the tendril revolves it will, under favour- 
able circumstances, meet with some external object, 
such as a branch or piece of stick, which by reason 
of its mere contact causes the tendril to bend at the 
point of meeting, and so gradually to wind itself 
round the object. 

These two examples must suffice to illustrate the 
manifold and strange phenomena of sensitiveness 
or irritability in plants. Everyone is acquainted with 
that other example of a plant sensitive to contact or 
touch, the famous sensitive plant, Mimosa pudica, 
which has been referred to by botanists till we are 
almost weary of its name, which is so dear to the 
hearts of the unscientific and which has been 
immortalised in the noble verses of a great English 
poet. Perhaps less familiar, but no less truly 
present, is the power of adaptation possessed by 
living plants to changes of temperature, to the 
direction of the force of gravity and to the other 
forces of nature; but beyond these references space 
will not permit me to go. 

To complete our picture of a living plant, some 
account should here be given of the processes of 
reproduction by which the plant, after its own 
death, can yet continue to produce its kind. This 
subject, however, would take us far into the 
theories and facts of microscopical science. We 
must be content, therefore, with a brief statement 
of some of the more obvious points which can be 
seen with the naked eye. A flower, as I need 
hardly tell you, consists, from without, inwards of 
sepals, of petals, of stamens and of a pistil. The 
stamens are packed with small grains of pollen and 
within the pistil lies the germ of a future seed, 
which, however, cannot develop unless pollen, 
preferably from another flower, has first fallen 
upon the pistil. We may well ask how is it that 
the pollen from the stamens of one flower is brought 
to the pistil of another? Thanks, more particularly, 
to the work of our great countryman, Charles 
Darwin, we can almost completely answer this 
question. It was found that the most important 
agents in this tranference of pollen are the wind 
and insects. z 

In the springtime, clouds of pollen are swept up 
by the wind from the pine-trees or from the willows, 
and some of this immense quantity must almost 
inevitably be borne to the pistils of other flowers. 
When the pines are in bloom, almost everything 
indoors and out, even far from their neighbourhood, 
becomes dusted over with some of the pollen, and 
the appearance is spoken of as ‘‘ sulphur rain.” 

Far more potent, however, than the wind, are 
insects; the bee buzzing from blossom to blossom 
has time after time been seen, with its hairy body, 
io transfer the pollen from stamen ito pistil, and 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 65 


the honey-glands which most flowers possess are 
thought to have originated for the sole purpose of 
attracting insects. In some orchids in particular, 
long-tongued moths are the carriers of pollen; in 
a few American plants, small humming-birds have 
been found to be the agents; and quite recently 
bats also have, in one case, been found to carry the 
pollen from flower to flower. 

When we study the structure of flowers in this 
light, it is wonderful how every part seems to be 
fashioned and set forth as a lure to insects, the 
gaudy colours of the petal, the sweet scent of the 


bloom, the delicious honey of the nectary, all 
appear but as contrivances for this one end. 
Insects too seem to be to some extent formed so 
that they can fully benefit by the enticements held 
out by the flower. Altogether it is a wonderful 
association between two different and remote 
classes of living things, a partnership more per- 
fect than anything we know in our human lives, 
and it presents us with a picture whose beautiful 
harmony makes a pleasing and suitable close to 
our subject. 


Elmwood, Bickley, Kent; April 5th, 1896. 


SCIENEE. Aly THE NADGIONAL, PORTRAIT GALMERY. 


By Joun T. CARRINGTON. 


(Continued from page 39.) 


Sir Davip BREWSTER (1781-1868). 


la celebrated natural philosopher, David 
Brewster, was a younger son of James 
Brewster, rector of the Jedburgh Grammar 
School, where David was born on December 11th, 
1781. Though his mother was a highly-cultured 
woman, she could not have exercised any great 
influence upon forming the character of her 
talented son, for she died when 
he was barely nine years old. 
The father’s rule in the house was 
far from conducive to the develop- 
ment of talent, for its rigid severity 
would have been more likely to 
crush out any budding ability. 
The elder and only sister of 
David Brewster soon discovered 
his genius, and, though only three 
years his senior, did all in her 
power to foster it in her brother. 
The remaining three brothers, 
James, George and Patrick, were 
also clever, the latter becoming 
an eminent preacher connected 
with the Abbey Church at Paisley. 
Sir David’s earliest teaching in 
scientific subjects was given to him 
by a self-taught astronomer and 
mathematician of Jedburgh, named James Veitch. 
Together, when David was ten years old, they 
made a telescope. When only twelve years old, he 
left the paternal charge and was placed in Edin- 
burgh for University training, attending the lectures 
of Playfair, Robinson and others, Theology was 
the aim of his father for David's profession, and he 
was licensed by the Presbytery of Edinburgh, 
preaching his first sermon in 1804, before a large 
congregation. Although said to have shown signs 
of becoming a successful preacher, he never 


Sir Davip BREWSTER. 


overcame a constitutional nervousness at appearing 
before his congregation. This was so severe that 
he had to relinquish his career in the Church and 
abandon his profession. 

After a short tutorship David Brewster became 
twice an unsuccessful candidate for the Chair of 
Mathematics, once at Edinburgh and again at St. 
Andrew’s. His worth was, nevertheless, recognized 
by both Universities, for he was 
made honorary M.A. of Edinburgh 
and LL.D. of St. Andrew’s; Cam- 
bridge following with its M.A. 
degree. In 1807, he was ap- 
pointed editor of the ‘‘ Edinburgh 
Encyclopedia,’’ which post he oc- 
cupied for twenty-two years. In 
1815 Brewster was madea F.R.S., 
having two years previously read 
his first paper, which was on 
‘« Some Properties of Light.’’ He 
took the Copley, Rumford and 
one of the Royal Medals of that 
Society. 

In 1816 Brewster invented the 
kaleidoscope, and in the follow- 
ing year became joint editor of 
the Edinburgh ‘‘ Philosophical 
Journal,’ which later became 
“The Edinburgh Magazine,” and again, in 1819, 
‘‘ The Edinburgh Journal of Science.”’ 

From this period for some time Brewster was 
most active in his scientific investigations and 
literary work. Still he found time to push the 
cause of science and art in other directions, and 
was largely instrumental in founding the Royal 
Scottish Society of Arts and the British Associa- 
tion, and was interested in the development of 
the science of photography from its earliest 
practice. 


D 4 


66 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


The Government allowed David Brewster an 
annuity of £100, which was in 1836 increased 
to £200, and two years later he was made Principal 
of the College of St. Salvator and St. Leonard, in 
the University of St. Andrew’s, which was a 
fortunate circumstance for the cause of science, as 
it relieved him of certain financial embarrassments 
which were sorely pressing on his attention. In 
1851 he was President of the 
meeting of the British Association, 


and Canton was 
confirm Franklin’s 


when everything 
the first Englishman to 
discovery that lightning and electricity were 
identical. To those interested in electrical 
science, a course of reading on Canton’s experi- 
ments and discoveries will be found most edifying. 
Though we now flippantly talk about matters 
electrical, we doubt whether later discoveries are 

so great as these early ones, for 

even now no one knows what is 


was new, 


held at Edinburgh; the text of PG, ‘electricity,’ and without the 
his address was for better scien- S= <= starting-points of Franklin and 
tific education, which was greatly ; i ¥ = \ Canton it is doubtful whether we 
needed in those days. In 1860 e Mes ten Ge should now know the luxury of 
he became Vice-Chancellor of the 4 AE a h electric light. 


University of Edinburgh. Besides 
his more important literary works, 
Sir David contributed upwards of 
three hundred papers to various 
scientific societies. 

In 1831 William IV. sent Brew- 
ster the Hanoverian Order of the 
Guelph, and later conferred an 
ordinary knighthood, at the same 
time remitting the heavy fees of 
£109, which would have been a 
burthen greater than the honour. 
In 1810, on July 31st, appears in his diary the 
quaint entry, ‘‘ Married, set off to the Trossachs.” 
This was to his first wife, who died in 1850 and was 
buried at Melrose Abbey. He married again in 1857. 
Eleven years later Sir David caught a severe cold, 
which was more than an enfeebled constitution 
could throw off, and he died peaceably, at Allerby, 
near Melrose, on February toth, 1868. 

The portrait of Sir David in the National 
Gallery is a handsome life-sized figure, dressed in 
brown coat with black stock-tie. He is resting in 
an arm-chair. It is by Sir John Watson Gordon, 
R.A., painted in 1864, and was presented to the 
nation by the artist’s brother. 


Joun CANTON (1718-1772). 

The name of Canton is little known in these 
times, even to the rising generation of students of 
electricity—of which subject he was one of the 
early masters—in these latter days of activity in 
electrical science. He was born on July 31st, 1718, 
at Stroud. Canton was always fond of scientific 
investigation, even in his boyhood; but, according 
to the customs of the times, he was ‘‘put to 
something useful,” and apprenticed to a cloth- 
weaver. In 1737 Canton came to London, and 
articled himself to a schoolmaster in Spital Square, 
eventually becoming his master’s partner. His 
investigations were still continued, and so success- 
fully that in 1749 he became a Fellow of the 
Royal Society. Those were the early days 
of investigation into the mysteries of electricity 


Joun Canton, F.R.S. 


John Canton wrote several im- 
portant papers for the learned 
societies of his period, and was 
among the first to write popularly 
and correctly on science. Articles 
will be found from his pen in the 
‘“Gentleman’s Magazine,’ from 
1739 to 1761, and in the ‘‘ Ladies’ 
Diary,” in 1739-40. He died in 
1772. 

John Canton superintended the 
fixing of the first lightning-con- 
ductor to St. Paul’s Cathedral. He invented the 
electrometer. His portrait, which is a bust, two- 
thirds life size, is by an unknown artist. Heis repre- 
sented as wearing a coat of quaint cut and full wig. 


JoszpH GRIMALDI (1779-1837). 


Joseph Grimaldi was born in Stanhope Street, 
Clare Market, London, on December 18th, 1779, 
and was a descendant of an Italian family who had 
been pantomimists and clowns for generations. 
His father brought Joseph up to the family 
profession, his first appearance being at Sadler’s 
Wells, as aninfant dancer, on April 16th, 1781, and 
he took a part in the pantomime at Drury Lane in 
the following winter. Joseph was sent, during the 
intervals of his engagements, to a boarding-school 
at Putney. As a clown Grimaldi is said to have 
had no equal. He died in Pentonville in 1837, and 
was buried by the side of his friend, Charles 
Dibden, at St. James’s Chapel, Pentonville Hill. 

Joseph Grimaldi can hardly be considered to 
have been a man of science. Still, his leisure time 
was occupied in the pursuit of entomology. It is 
stated that after acting in the afternoons at Sadler's 
Wells Theatre, he would hurriedly run to Drury 
Lane for the evening performance, after which, so 
ardent was he in his love of the country, he used 
frequently to walk down to Dartford Heath, so as 
to be there by sun-rise, in time for the first flight 
of the ‘‘ Dartford-blues.’”” We have not sketched 
his portrait in the Gallery. 

(To be continued.) 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 67 


MOSSES AND HEPATICS OF MOURNE MOUNTAINS. 
By Rev. H. W. Lert, M.A., M.R.LA. 


(Continued from page 31.) 


RE summit of Slieve Donard, though it does not 

produce much for which the botanist cares, 
must be visited, for there are a few interesting plants 
to be found on it; and from it the slightly lower 
elevation of Slieve Commedah, 2,512 feet, on the 
west of the White River Glen can be easily reached 
by descending towards the south as far as the neck 
which joins the two mountains, and then going 
west and ascending by a gradual slope to the long, 
narrow ridge of Slieve Commedah. Both sides, or 
rather edges—for they are almost vertical—of the 
ridge are worth searching. The lower portions of 
Slieve Commedah are known as Shanslieve, Slieve- 
namaddy and Slievenabroch, and their rocky 
surfaces abound with mosses and hepatics. The 
glen to the west of these is the Spinkwee River 
Glen, the water, after flowing through it, unites with 
the Shimna Stream, in Tullymore Park. Besides 
most of the foregoing, the following additional 
plants occur in this portion of the mountains: 
Sphagnum acutifolium, vars. ayctum, ascendens and 
deflexum, S. cymbifoluum, var. congestum; Andreea 
vothit, var. hamata, A. cvassinevvis and var. holtii; 
Dicranella hetevomalla, var. sericea, D. cerviculata ; 
Dicranum scottii, D. fuscescens, D. scoparium, var. 
turvfosum ; Dichodontium pellucidum, var. sevvatum ; 
Onchophorus striatus ; Mollia vividula ; Barbula unguicu- 
lata; Grimmia obtusa, var. subsimplex; Bartramia 
ithyphylla ;  Sphaerocarpus palustris;  Isothectum 
myuvum, var. elongatum; Eurhynchium strictum, E. 
praclongum ; Amblystegium vipavium ; Hypnum ochra- 
ceum ; Lepidozia setacea ; Cephalozia connivens; Cin- 
cinnulus tvichomanis ; Plagiochila asplenotdes ; Aplozia 
sphaevocarpa, A. crenulata; Marsupella emarginata, 
var. minor; Blasia pusilla. 

It may encourage botanists to be told that all the 
above-named plants have been found within three 
miles of Newcastle, and the district I have des- 
cribed for them embraces but a small bit of the 
Mournes. Doubtless other plants occur, but 
those only which are known have been referred to. 

The plants found in other parts, which have not 
yet been mentioned in this paper, remain to be now 
noticed, and several of them have not been recorded 
hitherto from any other place in Ireland. 

Tullymore Park, in which is a picturesque 
residence of the Earl of Roden, is only two miles 
distant from Newcastle. It is densely wooded, and 
some of the trees are of fine growth. The Shimna 
River traverses the length of the park, and the 
moist atmosphere which always hangs over the 
deep and rocky banks of the stream is conducive to 
the production of mosses and hepatics. The park 


is about three miles in length, and contains several 
glens. Besides most of the more common species 
that may be expected in such a spot, I have 
gathered within the boundary of the park walls 
Orthotvichum  stvamineum, O. lyellii, O. stviatum ; 
Weissia bruchii, W. ulophylla and var. intermedia, 
W. phyllantha ; Mnium rostvatum ; Barbula spadicea, B. 
vevoluta, B. convoluta; Grimmia apocarpa, a peculiar 
elongated green form ; Zygodon viridissimus ; Neckera 
complanata ; Homalia trichomanoides ; Thamium alofe- 
cuvum; Byrachythecium glareosum ;  Rhyncostegium 
confertum ; Plagiothecium pulchellum ; Mollia verticellata, 
M. e@vuginosa and var. vamosisimum, M. tortuosa, var. 
augustifolia ; Lejeunia calcavea ; Phragmicoma mackatt ; 
Cephalozia sphagni ; Tricholea tomentella ; Blephavostoma 
trichophylla ; Pellia calycina; Astevella hemispherica ; 
Aneura pinnatifida ; Metzgeria conjugata, M. furcata. 

After the places already mentioned, I think the 
north-west region of the Mournes is the most interest- 
ing for the cryptogamic botanist. This can be best 
explored from Hilltown, a village where comfortable 
accommodation can behad at the ‘‘Downshire Arms.” 
This place is called from Hill, which is the Marquis 
of Downshire’s family name, and not, as some 
have supposed, from its propinquity to the hills of 
the Mournes. Several rare mosses occur near 
Hilltown. I foundita particularly good district for 
Sphagnacee. Making Hilltown my headquarters, I 
have easily visited, in a few days, the Cock and 
Hen Mountains, the Deer’s Meadow, Pigeon-rock 
Mountains, Butter Mountains, Spelga, Spaltha, 
Kinahalla, and many others, all within a reasonable 
tramp. These produced the following additional 
plants : Sphagnum squarrosum, var. teres, S. cuspidatum 
and var. plumosum, S. molle and its var. muilert, 
S. tenellum ; Andre@a rvothti, A. falcata ; Anisothecium 
vubyum, A. vufescens; Grimmia orbicularis; G. 
canescens, var. ericoides; Tortula subulata ; Cinclodotus 
fontinalioides ; Hypnum resupinatum, H. stramineum ; 
Homalothecium sevicium ; Pleuvozia purpurea ; Cepha- 
lozia divaricata; Scapania uliginosa; S. umbrosa; 
Chiloscyphus polyanthos; Plagiochila spinulosa; Junger- 
mania pumila ; Aneura multifida. 

The Deer’s Meadow, in which the River Bann 
rises, is a plateau at a very considerable elevation 
in the bosom of the mountains. The name was 
probably given to it as being the haunt of the red 
deer in the days when there were such animals in 
the district. Another name by which it was called, 
was the ‘King’s Meadow,” because people had 
their grazing in it free. It extends some two miles 
in length and one and a-half in breadth. A 
century back great numbers of poor persons 


68 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


resorted to it in the summer months to graze their 
cattle. They brought with them their wives and 
children and a few articles of household utensils 
and furniture, erected huts of sods, cut their peat 
fuel for the coming year, and spent two months in 
the Deer's Meadow, retiring at harvest to their 
lowland habitation. This place is now utilized for 
making turf or peat, in which process a large 
portion of it has been ‘cut out,’ the bare rock being 
reached. The oneroad that traverses the Mournes 
runs through the Deer's Meadow from north to 
south. The additional mosses that have been 
collected here are: Sphagnum intermedium and its 
var. pulchrum, S. subsecundum, var. auriculatum ; 
Campylopus flexuosus, var. paludosus, C. setifolius ; 
Tortula muralis; Barbula rubella; Splachnum 
ampullaceum ; Breutelia chrysocoma; Bryum cespiticium ; 
Fontinalis antipyretica ; Hypnum exannulatum. 

The Cove Mountain where there is a small 
lakelet and a sort of cave, the Happy or Silent 
Valley which is shortly to be converted into an 
immense reservoir for the water supply of the 
City of Belfast thirty-six miles distant, Lough 
Shannagh, the Chimney-rock Mountain, Slieve 
Bernagh, Slieve Bignian, and Bencrom, with 
others lying near the centre of the district, can be 
reached from Newcastle, Hilltown or Kilkeel. 
They will reward a search with Polytrichum gracile, 
P. attenuatus; Sphagnum subsecundum, var. obesum ; 
Splachnum pedunculatum; Barbula curvirostris; Frul- 
lania fragifolia; Aplozia riparia, A. hyalina. 

In walking from Hilltown to Rosstrevor, my plan 
has been to take to the mountains, about two miles 
from the former village, and work the ground from 
the Rocky Mountain to Shanlieve, both of which 
are good, and then to rejoin the road at a distance 
of three miles from Rosstrevor, or keep southwards 
till one reads the summit of Slieve Dermot, below 
which lies the village of Rosstrevor. There are 
several excellent hotels in Rosstrevor, which is 
connected by atram with the railway at Warren- 
point. 

If it were for nothing else but the scenery >f 
Carlingford Lough, the botanist should visit 
Rosstrevor, which nestles in a sunny, well-sheltered 
corner on the very shore of the Lough. Here is to be 
seen a phenomenon not atallcommon in Ireland, viz., 
fine oak and ash trees growing at the verge of the 
sea, and actually in one spot overhanging the salt- 
water at full tide. 

The mountains that rise above Rosstrevor, and 
screen it completely from the north and east, are all 
worth searching, while Knockbarragh, Moygannon 
Glen, Narrow Water Demesne (which is the only 
place where I was not permitted to carry a botanical 
vasculum) and Warrenpoint, are all close at hand, 
and possess their peculiar plants. In addition there 
is the great Carlingford Mountain in co. Louth, 
with its rugged outline and legends of giants and 


fair ladies, and the co. Armagh Mountains, which 
I have found very good for a few days’ botanizing. 
The following from these places are not included 
in any of the above lists: Tortula aloides, T. montana ; 
Barbula fallax ; Ovthotrichum saxatile ; Physcomitrium 
pyviforme ; Fontinalis squammosa; Cryphea arborea ; 
Dichodontium pellucidum, var. fagimontanum ; Hypnum 
fiuitans, H. patientig, H. scorpioides; Amblystegium 
sevpens;  Bvrachythecium salebrosum ; Hylocomium 
brevivostve; Pleuvidium subulata, P. alternifolium ; 
Lepidozia veptans; Jungermania porphyroleuca, J. ven- 
tricosa; Leptoscyphus interruptus, var. pyventacum ; 
Radula complanata. 

Though I do not presume to think I have ‘‘ worked 
out the botany of the Mourne Mouniains,” to quote 
the words of a writer in SclENCE-Gossip, I think I 
have made good the proposition with which I 
started, that there is a wealth of mosses and 
hepatics in the Mournes. 

I have to thank Messrs. A. and C. Black for 
permission to reproduce part of the map of Mourne 
Mountains, taken with their permission from their 
‘“* Guide to Belfast, etc.” 


Aghaderg Glebe, Loughbrickland, co. Down ; 
April, 1896. 


AQUATIC HYMENOPTERA. 
DISCOVERY OF MALE PRESTWICHIA AQUATICA. 
By Frep Enock, F.L.S., F.E.S. 


ie is with no small amount of pleasure that I 

am now able to report the discovery of the 
hitherto unknown male Prestwichia aquatica, 
Lubbock, which I captured last week. The many 
days spent year after year in searching for this | 
strange aquatic parasite were all forgotten in 
the excitement, as well as were the gnawings of 
hunger and the longing for ‘‘the cup that cheers 
but not inebriates.’’ My companions in distress 
were Messrs. Scourfield and Dennis, and they had 
been holding a quiet discourse on the advisability 
of looking out for a place where this refreshing cup 
might be obtained, when I took another dip, going 
through the oft-repeated operation of searching 
over the contents of my net, until my eye rested on 
a minute insect, which I most carefully bottled, 
and then, when corked, I informed my companions 
that ‘“‘I had got it.’’ The effect of these words 
was most marked, for my companions forgot their 
thirst and hunger in their desire to help me to dip 
and examine each bottle of water. Soon a tiny 
insect was seen on the surface—a mere mite, with 
wonderful power to elude the mouth of the phial, 
and when at last it did go in, we hardly knew where 
it had gone to, but found it holding on fast to the 
inside, scarcely visible in the declining light. It 
was safely secured; then another suspicious-look- 
ing one soon after followed. We now agreed to 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 69 


‘limber up,’’ and go in search of something for the 
inner man, but our first application met with the 
answer ‘too late!’’ though more successful at 
the next establishment, where we soon lost our 
appetites and just managed to catch a late train 
home, and the microscope was brought intc 
requisition to determine the character of the 
suspects. Two of them proved to be females, and 
the others the insect so long and laboriously 
searched for, the male of Prestwichia aquatica. It is 
anything but ‘‘ the better half,’ being a small flea- 
like creature, barely three-quarters of a millimetre 
long, and, as I surmised in ScIENCE-GossIP, ante 
Pp. 41, apteyvous. It is of a brown colour, the 
antennz are similar in shape and in number of 
joints (seven) as those possessed by the female. 
The tarsi, three joints, thus confirming the opinion 
of the late Prof. J. O. Westwood (Linn. Trans. 
second series, vol. 1, ‘‘Zoology,’’ p. 588, first line). 
It is almost too early to express an opinion as to 
the host of this aquatic parasite, but from the 
comparative delicacy of the legs, and great length 
of the ovipositor, I incline to think we shall find it 
parasitic in some of the quiescent pupz rather 
than the eggs or larvae of aquatic insects. So very 
little is known of the habits and economy of these 
animals that we must be prepared to have our 
nerves shaken by some new facts turning up in the 
course of our investigations, and I cannot too 
firmly impress upon all naturalists the very great 
importance of making most careful drawings and 
descriptions, to avoid errors being promulgated and 
handed down from generation to generation. 


21, Manor Gardens, London, N.; July roth, 1806. 


FORMULATION OF SHELL- 
BANDS. 


ONSIDERING the ease with which a collection 
of British five-banded land-shells may be 
made, and the interest and beauty of such a col- 
lection, the wonder is that more persons do not 
enter upon the study. Perhaps this is to be 
accounted for by the difficulty of hitherto obtaining 
a convenient check and label-list, with instructions 
how to proceed. It is a study which would repay 
investigation, for little has been systematically 
done. 

The subject has now been made easy by the 
compilation of such a list (‘‘A Label-List of the 
Varieties of the British Five-banded Landshells, 
with the Band Formule for Helix nemoralis and 
Helix hortensis,” by John T. Carrington.) This 
twelve-page pamphlet supplies a long-felt necessity 
for shell collectors who, like Mr. Carrington, have 
made the subject of band variation a special study. 
The nomenclature of varieties followed is that of 


the Conchological Society’s list of 1892, with some 
varieties added, not that this exhausts the number 
of varietal names published; for instance, not one 
of the seven varieties mentioned by Mr. T. D. A. 
Cockerell in the ‘‘ Nautilus,” iii. (1890), p. 139, is 
included, although, with the exception of var. 
subglobosa, Binn., they are all stated to occur in 
Europe, and probably in Great Britain. Mr. 
Carrington has, perhaps, exercised a wise discretion 
in reducing the number of varieties, as many un- 
doubtedly are merely mutations or monstrosities. 

Several attempts have been made to classify and 
catalogue the different combinations of bands, as 
observed in these two species of Helix. Some of the 
more noteworthy are: G. von Marten’s ‘‘ Ordnung 
der Biinder an den Schalen von Landschnecken,”’ 
(1832) ; J. Sauveur in ‘‘ Memoirs Soc. Mal. Belge,” 
ii. (1867), p. 59; F. Reibisch, ‘‘ Allgem. Deutsch. 
Naturh. Zeitung,” N.F., i. (1855), p. 283; S. 
Clessin, ‘‘ Jahrb. Augsb. Naturh. Ver.,”’ xxii. (1873) ; 
Max Kunze, ‘‘ Nachr. Bl. Deutsch. Malak. Ges.,” 
xi. (1879), p. 55; C. Ashford, ‘‘ Journ. of Con- 
chology,’’ iii. (1880), p. 89; C. Riemenschneider, 
‘‘Nachr. Bl. Deutsch. Malak. Ges.,” xiii. (1881); S. 
S. Pearce, ‘‘ Journ. of Conchology,’’ vi. (1889), p. 
123; T. D. A. Cockerell, ‘‘The Nautilus,’’ iii. 
(1889), p. 75; G. K. Gude, ‘‘ The Field ” (1891) ; 
T. D. A. Cockerell, ‘‘The Nautilus,’ viii. (1894), 
p. 92; and many others of minor importance. 

The system adopted in the list now under con- 
sideration is a decided improvement on its 
predecessors, as any given formula can be found 
without the slightest difficulty, and, speaking from 
experience, this is more than can be said of any of 
the other lists. The whole being printed on one 
side of the paper only, it will be found to forma 
handy label-list for practical purposes as well as 
an exchange list to circulate among conchologists. 
The low price of one penny brings it within the 
reach of the poorest collector of land-shells. 

We note with a sense of pleasure that this list is 
remarkably free from blemishes, which—remem- 
bering the quantity of numerals used, each species 
numbering eighty-nine formulaz—is saying a good 
deal. In looking through it and checking it with 
the writer’s own list in ‘‘The Field"’ of 1891, we 
have found only two misprints, ie. of Helix 
nemoralis, the first formula of 4 bands in 3 should 
read 4 bands in 2, 0(23)(45); and of Hela 
hortensis, after the last formula of 4 bands in 2, one 
is omitted, i.e. 4 bands in 2, 0(23)(45), while 4 
bands in 3, 023(45) occurs twice, and one should 
therefore be deleted. 

On the second page of this pamphlet are full 
though simple instructions for studying the band 
formule. We have no hesitation in cordially 
recommending this list to all conchologists inte- 


rested in this subject. 
G. K. GUDE. 


70 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


CHARACTERISTIC BRANCHING OF BRITISH FOREST-TREES. 


By THE Rev. W. H. Purcuas. 


(Continued from page 43.) 


THE LIME. 


HERE are in Britain three different forms of 
lime-trees ; whether distinct as species, or 
whether modifications of one single species, is a 
question which is not here discussed. They have 
varying claims to be considered indigenous, and 
the names by which they have been usually known 


trees are found in the size and clothing of the 
leaves and the proportionate length of their stalks, 
and also in the shape, size and texture of the fruit. 
The arrangement of the leaves on the stem and the 
position of the flowers are alike in all, and it is with 
these that we are chiefly here concerned. 


SMALL-LEAVED Lime, Tilia parvifolia, early summer state. 


to British botanists are (1) Tilia parvifolia, Ebrh., 
the small-leaved lime, the most truly wild form, 
as it is pretty certainly a native in various 
woods in the southern and south-western counties ; 
(2) the common lime Tilia intermedia, D.C., which 
exists chiefly, if not altogether, as a planted tree; 
and (3) Tilia grandifolia, of Ehrh., the large-leaved 
lime, which, although often planted, is met with in 
some localities, such as the rocky limestone woods 
of the Wye Valley (Gloucestershire and Hereford- 
shire), where it is difficult to believe that it can 
be other than a native. 

The botanical differences between these three 


The arrangement of the leaves in the lime is the 
same as in the elm and in the beech, i.e. two- 
ranked, each third leaf standing immediately over 
the first, and hence giving rise to a two-ranked 
order in the secondary branches. 

The flowers, which are borne in small stalked 
pendulous clusters (cymes), spring not as in the 
elm, immediately from axillary buds on the 
previous year’s wood, but from leafy shoots of the 
current year arising from those axillary buds; 
they thus belong to a younger order of growths 
than in the case of the elm. The axil of every leaf, 
or nearly every leaf save the lower ones, on these 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 71 


shoots give rise to a cluster of flowers, and also to 
an accompanying leaf-bud. Anarrangement which 
I think is peculiar to the lime is this formation of a 
leaf-bud in the same axil with the inflorescence. 
Hence it arises that when the fruit is ripened and 
falls off with its stalk, the node or joining does not 
exhibit a bare space as in the elm or ash, but a bud 
ready to produce a leafy shoot in the following 
spring. Thus the ultimate branches of the lime 
are often more furnished with sprays than in the 
elm or beech; and as these sprays do not show a 
tendency to turn upward, the flat fan-like mode of 
growth is in general very observable. 

It has been said that the lowest leaves on the 
current year’s shoot do not always produce 
leaf-buds as well as flowers in their axils ; 
or, if they do, it is only small and 
weakly ones. The strongest buds 
are those formed nearest the tip 
of the shoot, more especially 
if it is the leading shoot of 
the branch. In this 
case the ultimate 
axillary bud 


takes the office of the growing-point, as in the elm, 
and in the following season carries forward the 
branch in the same direction as before, whilst the 
lower axillary buds give rise at the same time to 
leafy flower-bearing shoots, which fringe the leader 
throughout the length of its last year’s growth. 
The leading shoot of each branch, although slender, 
is moderately strong, and maintains a horizontal 
or even ascending direction, save towards the 
extremity where it is weaker and drooping. 

The perishing of the growing-point of the year’s 
shoot in autumn and the devolving of its office on 
the nearest axillary bud does not seem to have 
been noticed in the case of the lime, but it may 
readily be seen, on examining a healthy twig in 


winter, when it will be found that the bud at its tip 
has been formed in the axil of the uppermost leaf, 
and the scar left by that leaf on falling may be seen 
at the base of the bud on one side, whilst on the 
opposite side may be observed a smaller scar, which 
marks the position occupied, either by a stalked 
cluster of flowers or by the growing-point before it 
withered away. This contributes to a zigzag 
direction in the shoot as it lengthens. The angle 
which the older branches make with the main 
trunk is commonly less than forty-five degrees. 
The divergence of the lesser branches and of the 
ultimate sprays from their parent branches is 


Common LIME, 


Tilia intermedia, D.C., early summer state. 


usually much greater than this. The length of 
internode varies from one and a-half to two and 
a-half inches in vigorous shoots, whilst on the 
small spray wood it is often no more than half an 
inch. In the luxuriant shoots again, which often 
arise from the base of the stem, it will sometimes 
be found to be as much as four inches. 

In the general character of its branching it shows 
some similarity to the more slender-growing forms 
of the wych elm, as might be expected from the 
identity of their leaf arrangement. But the 
branches of the lime show more subordination to 
the main trunk, and, as has been already pointed 
out, they maintain more distinctly the flat fan-like 
form; then, as they extend and lengthen and their 


72 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


increasing weight renders them more and more 
pendulous, they fold over each other and form too 
unbroken a surface for picturesque beauty, and 
hence Gilpin's remark that the lime-tree ‘‘ has an 
uniformity of surface without any of those breaks 
and hollows which the most picturesque trees 
present, and which give their foliage so much 
beauty.’’ This, however, is less the case as the 
tree advances into old age, the gradual lengthening 
of the branches, and the dying away of their lower 
branchlets and spray contribute to a greater variety 
of surface and lightness of effect. 

What has been said in this paper must be 
understood to apply in the first instance to the 
wild or small-leaved lime T. parvifolia, Ehrh. The 
general mode of branching is, however, much the 
same in the other two kinds, T. intervmedia, D.C., 
and T. grandifolia, Ehrh. The differences in the 
general effect of the two latter trees from that of 
the former is due in some measure to their more 
robust growth in all parts, but more particularly 
to the larger size of the leaves and their compara- 
tively shorter stalks, on account of which the 
leaves tend more to overlap each other and to 
give a dense and crowded aspect to the young 
shoots compared with the more light and open 
growth of T. parvifolia. In neither of the limes, 
however, do we observe that diminishing of the 
leaves towards the tip of the young shoots in early 
summer which has been spoken of as characteristic 


of the beech. : 
(To be continued.) 


A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. 

FINE day and a sky deep blue saw me ona 

ramble round Hawstead, a village which 
Queen Elizabeth visited near the once-famous 
town of Bury St. Edmunds. Soon being in the 
country, with the call of the cuckoos keeping me 
company, I began my search in quest of plants. I 
was not disappointed, for soon I came across a 
hedge in which the wayfaring tree, Viburnum 
lantana, and numerous small green flowers of 
the spindle-tree (Euonymus eurvopeus) played no 
unimportant part. Underneath these the woodruff 
(Asperula odorata) showed its little white flowers 
and the wild clematis (Clematis vitalba) wreathed 
the branches with its tender shoots, later to be 
expanded with elegant flowers. 

In the adjoining field butterflies were frequent. 
There I have caught the common blues, red 
admirals, peacocks, common whites, painted lady, 
with others; and sometimes a beautiful swallow- 
tail (Papilio machaon) fell to my net as well. 

The corn crowfoot (Ranunculus arvensis), with its 
curious and prickly seed-vessels, finds a habitat in 
a field there with the tiny venus-comb (Scandix 


pecten-venevis), and on a bank of a neighbouring 
ditch the common arum (Arum maculatum) and the 
peculiar wood-spurge (Euphorlia amygaloides), grow- 
ing like a shrub by the side of the water, are both 
plentiful. A meadow a few steps further shows its 
treasures in the form of the green-winged orchis 
(Ovchis morio) growing thickly with the cowslips, 
making a grand contrast. On the next road 
Equisetum arvense is so plentiful as to fill the wind 
with its pollen. 

Soon I came in sight of one part of the village 
with its whitewashed houses. As my object in 
going to Hawstead was to get information about 
the locality of the beautiful and local fritillary, 
Fritillaria meleagris, 1 called at one of the cottages, 
the garden of which was full of these curious 
flowers, to ask for information about its where- 
abouts. My informer was most agreeable. ‘‘ They 
be in the ‘flowery meadow,’ as the children call 
it, but the tenant don’t like people going in, as 
last year they dug them up so much. It’s called 
‘wild tulip’ hereabouts because its flower is like © 
one, but it hangs dewn and has roots like snow- 
drops. I can give you a root from my garden— 
they have just been planted from the meadow.” 
Following her into a well-kept garden she said: 
‘Last year I got a white one, and I staked it so as 
to know it next year,’’ and a handsome white 
variety it was. Thanking her very much, I 
departed, and noticed that though the fritillary 
would probably soon be banished from the mead, it 
would have a good place among the coitage 
gardens in Hawstead for many years. In a 
meadow near the church, the grass was covered 
with the meadow-saffron (Colehiewm autumnale) with 
strong clumps of leaves. It would be hardly 
possible to eradicate this, and the person who 
tried it would soon be tired, as there is such a 
quantity. Passing Hawstead, I soon came to a 
valley in which a little stream runs, called Haw- 
stead Vale, or Hawstead Cranks, an ideal place for 
Picnics and hide-and-seek, being full of cranky 
corners. The time of this visit being early in May, 
there was nothing particular in this place, but on 
past occasions I have found the following plants : 
the hairy violet (Viola hirta), abundantly on a dry 
bank; one good-sized plant of the perfoliate 
honeysuckle, with its fine yellow flowers and 
perfoliate leaves; oxlips (Primula elatior), with their 
fragrance and habit between a primrose and cow- 
slip; guelder-roses (Viburnum opulus), growing near 
the water; milkwort (Polygala vulgaris), on a healthy 
meadow near ; wood forget-me-not (Myosotis silvatica), 
on dry ground under shrubs; and of less local 
plants, I may mention chicory (Cichorvium intybus), 
dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) and the common iris 
(Iris pseudaorus). Davip S. Fisu. 

12, Fettes Row, Edinburgh; 
July, 1896. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 73 


NOTES OF A HOME NATURALIST. 


By Mrs. Emity J. CLIMENSON. 


|e the third week in March, I was dipping my 

net in the old fish stew at Shiplake Court, and 
landed six toads, all clasped together, their arms 
round one another’s necks and bodies in a most 
fraternal embrace. I placed them on the grass 
bank, and they appeared to be perfectly torpid ; 
after a while they lazily tried opening their eyes, 
and then re-shut them; then they gradually 
loosened their hold of each other and separated, 
commencing to crawl away. I replaced them in 
the water and shortly afterwards, in another part 
of the fish stew, saw a number of toads linked 
in a similar way, swimming away en masse, like a 
raft, moving simultaneously their outer hind legs. 
Query to this is—do toads hibernate thus? And if 
so, do they cling together for warmth or protection ? 
There was no sort of idea of union except a 
fraternal one, as they appeared to be all of one 
Sex. 

The Batrzehospernum weed, mentioned in my 
article in the July number (ante p. 44), showing a 
languishing habit when left alone in a little glass 
jar, despite of fresh water, I replaced some duck- 
weed and nitella with it, when it immediately 
resumed its pristine colour and healthy appearance. 
The question suggests itself whether it derives 
oxygen or any life-giving principle from other 
weeds. Since the great heat in June, it has 
languished, and now (July 2nd), was thrown away, 
as no longer worth keeping. 

In March, I caught some curious worms, very 
thin, about an inch long, white colour, semi-trans- 
parent; these, when at rest, anchored themselves 
to the weed in a circle. On looking closely at 
them, one perceived they, though apparently 
cylindrical, had sides in the form of an octagon. 

A swallow was seen and the cuckoo heard here 
on April roth. On April 29th, a larva of the 
dragonfly Libellula depressa, 1 had in a bottle, cast 
its skin entirely, and when I placed the skin on a 
card, it was quite perfect but for one leg, which 
the larva had apparently swallowed. On April 27th, 
my husband, a friend and myself were watching 
some fish in a large aquarium, when we perceived a 
minnow swimming frantically round, attacked by 
what I described as a ‘‘barley-sugar animal,’’ on 
page 44 of July number of this paper. The creature 
was plainly biting the minnow, and was firmly 
fixed on its back like a loop. Taking a spoon, I 
took out the fish, removed the enemy, and placed 
both in separate vessels; the fish recovered, the 
mysterious enemy lived, too, for a while. These 
barred leeches (if they are such) only live if the 
water is constantly changed. They are for ever on 


the watch, seeking something, though they are so 
cunning that at the least alarm or change of water 
they will lie round an anacharsis leaf till one 
imagines they are lost. 

I should be so glad if some fellow naturalist 
would tell me of a good book on worms and 
leeches, also one on mites. The variety of these 
latter is great here. I may mention that we have 
several red ones, one indented like a mattress, 
another plain-scarlet with hard scutellum, a similar 
one deep crimson, one brown with yellow spots, 
and one black with similar spots. 

The ditches now have many Velia curvens in 
them. A most beautiful Corrixa I have lately caught 
occasionally has red eyes, a green chrysoprase 
coloured head, a green body with two stripes of 
brown edging, wing cases, and barred across with 
brown stripes. Also the very curious little whirli- 
gig beetle (Gyrinus), about five lines long, wedge- 
shaped, and like a piece of quicksilver all over. 

I bought a pair of Hydrophilus picens beetles from 
Mr. R. Green, of Covent Garden, on May 3oth ; they 
feed on anacharsis and watercress, varied with a 
few ants’-eggs. With regard to aquaria, I find 
them much more difficult to keep in health and 
clearness in the hot weather than in the winter and 
spring, despite of shade and numerous Planorbis 
and other molluscs, the water is apt to get rapidly 
turgid and green. My old Dyticus beetle, caught 
September 27th, 1895, is healthy and will be 
restored to the ditches before his mistress departs 
for asummer holiday. Nothing comes amiss to his 
voracious maw, from beef, mutton, fish, tadpoles, 
down to an occasional water-snail or ant-egg. 

The greater mullein flourishes profusely here, 
rearing its handsome yellow spikes of flowers in 
the chalk slopes above the river. These have been 
covered with caterpillars of Cucullia lychnitis this 
season. I have fed some dozen or so in my 
insectarium, and a few turned to pupe; but to my 
disgust, some insect has devoured the majority of 
them. I suspect earwigs to be the murderers, as 
several have been caught in the insectarium. 

On the high road to the station here, I saw a 
nest of the nest-building bee (Bombus muscorum), it 
consisted of a ball of moss under a few bents of 
dry hay; on lifting the moss witha stick, a com- 
plete nest of moss was revealed, in which arose a 
dome-shaped yellow cone, presumably the eggs; in 
the moss by this structure were two small black 
bees, who, surprised at such an intrusion on their 
domesticity, did not attempt to fly out, but 
exhibited an abject attitude of fear. 


Shiplake Vicarage, Oxon. 


74 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


fBOOKS TO READ 
CV Abe ALRG Vi M)) 


NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 


Text-Book of Zoology. By J. E. V. Boas, 
Lecturer in Zoology in the Royal College of 
Agriculture, Copenhagen. Translated by J. W. 
Kirkaldy and E. C. Pollard, B.Sc. Lond. 576 pp. 
royal 8vo, with 427 illustrations. (London: 
Sampson, Low, Marston and Co., Limited, 1896.) 
Price 21s. net. 

In preparing an English translation of Dr. Boas’ 
‘“‘Lehrbuch der Zoologie,’ which has already 
appeared in two Dutch and two German editions, 
the translators have had in view the requirements 
of beginners in the study. An important feature is 
the fact that Dr. Boas founds his book and teaching 
upon facts rather than theories. This is most useful 
to students, because they can verify much of what he 
says for themselves; such experiments being of the 
highest educational value. Having this is view, 
the translators have replaced in the list of 
more important animal forms mentioned in 
the book, those which are chosen from the 
European fauna not occurring in Britain, by other 
animals found here. This will add greatly to the 
value of the book for English readers. The literary 
style of the translators is well suited to beginners, 
as well as older students, for the book is not over- 
loaded with difficult scientific terms insufficiently 
explained, the common fault with so many “‘ text- 
books.” Embryology very properly forms the 
basis of Dr. Boas’s work, and he leads up from the 
earlier stages of each class through the life-history 
to classification, after giving a general description of 
the animals. The figures are well chosen for 
illustrating the text. They are generally fairly 
well printed, though in some cases the detail is 
lost in the liberal application of ink; as for 
instance, in figs. 44 and 223. This latest of text- 
books on zoology, issued to English readers, may 
be well recommended, and should be added to the 
libraries of educational establishments generally. 


The Evolution of Bivd-Song; with Observations on 
the influence of Heredity and Imitation. By CHARLES 
A. WITCHELL. 253 pp. 8vo, illustrated by musical 
renderings of some bird-songs. (London: Adam 
and Charles Black, 1896.) Price 5s. 

This is one of the most thoughtfully written 
books we have met with for some time past. It is 
the work of a true observer of nature who lives 
among his subjects. Neither has it been too 
hastily written, for the author states that the 
investigation of bird-song first secured his atten- 
tion in 1881. As is usual in such cases, it was a 
small circumstance which led in the first instance 
to this study; and in the result we have now before 
us a remarkable work, well worthy of the attention 
of the country lover as well as of the skilled 
ornithologist. Wedo not go so far as to say that 
we agree with every conclusion of the author, 
especially in regard to quoted imitations of one 
species of bird of the song of some other widely 
different one, both in species and in notes. While 
agreeing that individual birds do vary very much 


in their song, we have never, as stated by the 
author, heard a thrush weave into its song the 
harsh ‘‘ crake’’ of acorn-crake. In the case of the 
song of sixteen thrushes Mr. Witchell claims to 
have recognized an imitation of corn-crakes no less 
than twenty-eight times. This instance is, of 
course, an extreme case ; butin strongly recommend- 
ing our readers to get this book and commence the 
observation of bird-song in their country rambles, 
we would warn them against too readily finding 
sounds which seem to be adapted from the song of 
very improbable birds. Birds, like other animals, 
are exceedingly imitative, and doubtless do acquire 
a strain of song peculiar to their environment by 
copying certain notes of other birds common in 
their district. Mr. Witchell has inaugurated a 
study of animal economy which can be readily 
followed by most intelligent persons; and one 
that will doubtless add much interest to country 
walks, to say nothing of the friendly discussion 
which is sure to be raised in consequence. 


The Scenery of Switzerland, and the Causes to which 
it is due. By the Right Hon. Sir JoHN Lussock, 
Bart., M.P., F.R.S., D.C.L., LL.D. xxix. and 473 
pp. 8vo, with 155 illustrations. (London and New 
York: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1896.) Price 
6s. 

Even some of the immense number of people 
who annually ‘‘do”’ Switzerland, or other portions 
of the Continent, will find the perusual of this 
work of Sir John Lubbock’s add greatly to their 
pleasure when passing through the Alpine regions. 
Those who travel for travel’s sake and education, 
should take the book with them and compare what 
is therein written with the surrounding scenery. 
Then a new interest will be awakened within them, 
and every mountain and valley will appear under 
new vision. The wonder is that this book, or 
one like it, had not years ago been written for the 
use of English travellers. Sir John explains, with 
the aid of numerous illustrations, the forces which 
have combined to elevate the Alps, raise lakes high 
above the sea-level and depress the gorges and vales, 
also how the glaciers and perpetual snows influence 
the physical geography of these regions. In fact, 
how the earth came to assume such aspects as are 
there exhibited. In showing how the sciences of 
geology and meteorology account for the physical 
appearance of the surface of the world, the author 
writes so plainly that his work is as pleasant reading 
as astory-book. Where it is really necessary to 
use the language of science, the unfamiliar words 
are explained in a short glossary, so that the book 
is founded on the principle of geology, made easy 
for lay readers. 


Ros Rosavum ex hovto Poetavum : the Dew of the ever- 
living -Rose gathered from the Poets’ Gardens of many 
Lands. By E. V. B. Seéond edition. 222 pp. 
8vo. (London: Elliot Stock, 1896.) 

It has seldom been our pleasure to handle a more 
dainty book. It suggests a present for some fair 
lady who will wrap itin silkand keep it ina lavender- 
scented drawer. It is not the first of the Hon. 
Eleanor Vere Boyle’s books which we have had to 
favourably notice. Her works have a delightfully 
pure fragrance of old-fashioned gardens, with sunny 
corners, where the perfume of flowers rests heavily 
on still summer afternoons. This is no exception, 
for in addition to nearly 200 pages of selected 
quotations about roses—damask, musk, red or white 
—there is an epistle to the reader which teems with 
rose-lore. Now, ye who would please a lady, go 
buy ‘‘ Ros Rosarum” and give to her. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 75 


A Monograph of the Land and Freshwatey Mollusca 
of the British Isles. By JoHN W. Taytor, F.L.S. 
Part iii. 63 pp. royal 8vo, with go illustrations. 
(Leeds: Taylor Brothers, 1896.) Price 6s., or 5s. 
by subscription. 

We gladly welcome Part iii. of this fine work, and 
only regret that the parts do not appear more 
frequently. The book is so valuable that the 
slowness in the issue is much to be deplored, if it 
is not, indeed, a source of anxiety as to the ultimate 
date of completion. One incentive to the author 
to let us have the work more rapidly would be an 
increased subscription list, which would doubtless 
enable him to give more time to its production. 
On looking over the list of subscribers on the 
covers, we miss many names of those who will 
do wisely to support Mr. Taylor, if not themselves 
actually conchologists. The number of libraries 
should also be largely increased which include this 
book in their catalogues. In fact it is the duty 
of everyone interested in natural science to urge on 
the author in this truly good work. The first five 
pages of Part iii. completes the monograph of the 
*«Shell,”’ and ends with a lengthy bibliography of 
the literature of the subject. The consideration of 
the ‘‘animal”’ is commenced and dealt with in a 
masterly manner. The author’s treatment of the 
sexual organs of mollusca is among the best essays 


Half a transverse row of the lingual teeth 


From Taylor’s ‘Monograph of the Land and 


we have met with on this question-—now considered 
so important in defining some obscure species, as 
well as in general classification. The alimentary 
system is included in this part and there are new 
illustrations of teeth of Helix aspersa, which are so 
interesting that we reproduce them by permission 
of the author. The part also contains the nervous 
system, auditory organs, circulatory system, and 
the morphology of the external organs, particularly 
in reference to the tentacles. This monograph still 
maintains its high character. 


The Flora of Dumfriesshive. By G. F. Scott- 
Evxriot, M.A., F.L.S.,F.R.G.S. Pages xl. and 219, 
royal 8vo. (Dumfries: J. Maxwell and Son, 1896.) 
Price tos. 6d., or 7s. 6d. to subscribers. 

This is an important addition to the list of 
county floras. It has been carefully compiled by 
an eminent author, in which work he has been 
assisted by J. McAndrew, J. T. Johnstone, the 
Misses Hannay, G. Bell, R Service, Rev. W. 
Andson, B. N. Peach and T. Horne. The book is 
something more than a mere list of plants and their 
stations in the county, for there are chapters on 
Topography by Mr. Scott-Elliot; the Habitat, 
Flowering Period, Insect Visitors, The Aculeate 
Hymenoptera of Mid-Solway, by Mr. R. Service; 
Meteorology by the Rev. W. Andson and Mr. 
Scott-Elliot; Geology by Messrs. Peach and 
Horne. It will thus be seen that the flora has 
been studied from other points of view besides the 
herbarium, for all influences which regulate its 
existence have received consideration. The nom- 


enclature is that of the ninth edition of the London 
Catalogue, but we are glad to observe that some 
‘“species”’ have been relegated to sub-species. 
The topographical range includes a portion of 
Kirkcudbright. ' 


Abstract of Proceedings of the South London Entomo- 
logical and Natural History Society foy the year 1895. 
107 pp. 8vo. (London: published by the Society, 
1896). Price 2s. 

When we consider that the compilation and 
editing of these ‘‘ Transactions”’ are in the hands of 
a committee of members who are very fully occupied 
with other affairs of life, we think they are worthy 
of thanks for having produced this part by 
midsummer following the year included. We 
are glad to see the Society still prospers and 
is doing much to popularize natural history. 
In addition to the Proceedings which have been 
reported from time to time in these pages, there is 
Mr. Thos. W. Hall’s presidental address, which 
carefully summarises the Society's work for his 
year of office. Several papers are printed in this 
number, which were read before the Society in 
1895. These include ‘‘ Variation of Evebia ethiops,”’ 
by Mr. J. W. Tutt; ‘‘On Colias edusa, in 1895,” by 
Mr. E.M. Montgomery; ‘‘ Notes on Sea Anemones,” 
by Mr. Edward Step, F.L.S.; and auseful “ List of 


of an adult garden-snail (Helix aspersa). 


Fresh-water Mollusca of the British Isles.” 


British Stalk-eyed Crustacea”’ by the latter gentle- 
man, which he has compiled for the use of readers 
of ‘‘ Bell's History of British Stalk-eyed Crustacea,” 
the object being to synchronise the nomenclature 
now used with that adopted by Professor Bell. 
Altogether this is an interesting part of the 
Society's ‘‘ Transactions.’ 

A Cosmographical Review of the Universal Law of 
the Affinities of Atoms. By JaMES Henry LOaDER. 
93 pp. 8vo. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 
Price 2s. 6d. 

The author states that this little work can by no 
means fully argue his views of the atomic theory, 
but he gives us enough for much speculation, no 
matter whether we agree with him or not. What 
he does say is clearly put and concisely argued, 
and will form some thoughtful reading for those 
interested in the affinities of atoms. 

Shertchley’s Physical Geography. Revised by 
Joun H. Howe t, B.A., twenty-eighth edition. 
224 pp. small 8vo, (London: John Murby, 1896). 
Price Is. 

This is one of Murby’s ‘‘ Science and Art Depart- 
ment Text-Books,’’ and this particular one has 
been before the public for the past twenty years. 
This new edition has been brought quite up to the 
present condition of geographical knowledge, and 
the astronomical parts of the work have been 
re-written. There is so much that is new in this 
text-book that it will be found useful to those who 
are ‘‘cramming " for examination, and as a handy 
reference for general use. 


76 SCIENGE-GOSSIP, 


British Sea Birds. By CHARLES DIXON. 295 pp. 
8vo, with eight illustrations by CHARLES WHIMPER 
(London: Bliss, Sands and Foster, 1896.) Price 
ros. 6d. 

The temptations offered by some publishers of 
natural-history books are great, and more than 
difficult to withstand. We know many a young 
ornithologist who will furtively handle that spare 
half-guinea on seeing this work at his booksellers. 


reminding one of the miles of similar nets we have 
seen spread along the coast of Italy, south of 
Naples, in the quail season. The beauty of Mr. 
Whimper’s pictures is largely due to his appropiate 
backgrounds, and some of those in this book have 
that character to the full. We have been naturally 
first attracted, on taking up this work, to the 
pictures and the general excellence of its produc- 
tion by the publishers, but the letterpress will be 


GUILLEMOTS AND RAZORBILL. 


To say that the illustrations are by Charles 
Whimper is a guarantee for their beauty and 
general truthfulness. By the courtesy of Messrs. 
Bliss, Sands and Foster, we reproduce a couple of 
them for our readers’ inspection ; it was difficult to 
select the most artistic, for all are alike good. The 
eight pictures include the black-backed gull and 
common tern, ruffs, guillemot and razorbill, great 
northern diver, tufted duck, stormy petrel, chough, 
and a view on Friskney foreshore in migration 
time, which is a‘night scene, with nets spread for 
the capture of the birds, more especially ducks, 


From Dixon’s ‘‘ British Sea Birds?’ 


found quite as attractive. Mr. Dixon’s pleasant 
style and abundant information is all that the 
unscientific reader will desire. Altogether this is 
quite the book for the country house and the town 
bird-lover, who takes his holiday by the ‘‘sad sea 
waves.” 


Modern Optical Instruments and theiy Construction. 
By Henry OrFoRD. 100 pp. 8vo, illustrated by 
88 figures. (London: Whittaker and Co., 1896.) 
Price 3s. 

This is essentially an amateur’s book, as it 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 27 


describes only the more popular optical instruments 
in use. The author commences with a description 
of the human eye, and bases the remainder of his 
chapters upon its artificial aids. Much of the 
work is devoted to the theory and practice of 
ophthalmoscopic examination, and the use of spec- 
tacles. There are also chapters upon the spectro- 
scope, the stereoscope, and optical lantern. 


The Story of Electricity. By JoHN Munro. 194 
pp. small 8vo, with roo illustrations. (London: 
George Newnes, Limited, 1896.) Price ts. 

Messrs. Newnes are doing good educational work 
by issuing the ‘Library of Useful Stories,” of 
which this volume is one of the series. Written 
by a fully trustworthy authority on electrical 
matters, we have pleasure in recommending it to 
those who desire to know the general facts about 


THE STORMY PETREL. 


the modern condition of the science of electricity, 
without the labour of wading through heavy 
books. The subject is treated from the earliest 
times to the recent experiments with the X-rays; 
the frontispiece being one of the now somewhat 
hackneyed pictures of the bones of ahand. This 
little book will form a nice present for an intelligent 
boy. 
What it Costs to be Vaccinated: the Pains and 
Penalties of an Unjust Law. By JoSEPH COLLINSON. 
46 pp. 8vo. (London: William Reeves and A. 
and H. B. Bonner, 1896.) Price 1s. 

The most satisfactory part of this book is the 
nice manner in which it is printed and issued by 
the publishers. For the rest—one can only regret 
that the freedom of the press can be so far misused 
as to permit weak-minded persons to be influenced 


by such literature. It makes one wish that our 
system of government were a little more paternal, 
and that such books by irresponsible writers were 
repressed by the strong hand of the majority of 
sensible people. Then we should have fewer of 
such epidemics of small-pox as has this year 
carried off numbers of aah folk in the West of 
England. These pages are covered with the 
usual stock arguments against vaccination, and 
we look in vain for anything new to show the 
necessity of its issue. 

A Concise Handbook of British Birds. 
Kirke Swann. 210 pp. 8vo. (London: 
Wheldon and Co., 1896). Price 3s. 6d. 

Without going too critically into the question of 
the necessity for more small books on the British 
birds, we welcome Mr. Swann’s handbook. Its 


By H. 
John 


From Dixon’s “ British Sea Birds.” 


chief merit is its conciseness, which is an advantage 
to the reader who knows something of ornithology, 
but desires to look up some bird fact. We are not 
quite sure whether this aiming at brevity has not 
cut the book too far. It might have been well to 
have added a few more sheets to its bulk, especially 
considering its price; then opportunity for including 
more useful information would have been secured. 
With regard to the nomenclature used, the author 
states that ‘‘the classification and nomenclature 
practically accord with those of the ‘ List of British 
Birds,’ compiled by a Committee of the British 
Ornithologists’ Union (1883), but a number of 
necessary alterations have been made, particularly 
in the matter of adopting the specific names of 
jivst describers as far as possible.'' We feel sure 
that most of his readers will be delighted. 


“I 
CO 


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ras oa 


SCIENCE GOSSIP 


NATURAL science not yet being one of the 
subjects necessary for the qualification of a news- 
paper editor, we were not surprised to see a true 
‘scientist ’’ stating in a recent issue of ‘‘ The Irish 
Times” that the Giant’s Causeway consists of a 
multitude of fossil palm-trees packed closely to- 
gether. 


Dr. BOWDLER SHARPE has undertaken to com- 
plete the almost finished monograph, left by the 
late Henry Seebohm, on the ‘‘ Family of Thrushes.”’ 
The work will be issued as a limited edition of two 
hundred and fifty copies, by Messrs. Henry 
Sotheran and Co., of London, and contain about 
one hundred and fifty coloured plates. 


We gather from the Report for 1895 of the 
observatory at Bidston Hill, near Birkenhead, 
some interesting statistics and conclusions about 
storms and wind velocity at the mouth of the 
Mersey. One fact will be a revelation to many 
good Liverpudians, viz.: that the annual average 
of stormy hours in the district reaches only about 
sixty. 

Lovers of nature and scenery are just now 
especially indignant at the proposal of a syndicate 
of speculators to enclose and make a show of the 
Giant’s Causeway, in North-eastern Ireland. It is 
possible that public opinion, backed by certain 
ancient manorial rights, has saved that grand 
geological station from the desecration of swing- 
boats and steam roundabouts, to say nothing of the 
*« American switchback”’ and attendant “‘trippers.” 


In consequence of his now working upon other 
groups of Insecta, Mr. C. A. Briggs, of Leatherhead, 
has decided to place his magnificent collection of 
Lepidoptera in the hands of Mr. Stevens, of Covent 
Garden, who will offer it for sale by auction during 
the coming autumn. The sale will occupy several 
days; and we hope, before it occurs, to give some 
account of the rarer species and varieties contained 
in the collection. 


WE are glad to observe from the blue book, just 
published, containing an account of the British 
Museum for the financial year ending March 31st, 
1896, that the number of visitors to the Natural 
History Department in Cromwell Road, was the 
highest for any year since 1890, the total being 
446,737- The Natural History Department is 
evidently becoming popular as the general public 
grow more familiar with the site of the Kensington 
Museum. 


A PARLIAMENTARY paper has just been issued 
upon signs and tests in the Mercantile Marine, 
which announces some startling results in examina- 
tion of ships’ officers for colour-blindness. The 
new system of test which has been adopted, gives 
2°8 per cent. of failures, as against -88 per cent. by 
the old system. No less than fifty-three officers 
who held certificates under the old system failed 
to pass thenew. We wonder whatis the percentage 
of students of natural science who would fail to 
pass this examination. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


THE Astronomer Royal has been elected a 
foreign correspondent of the French Academy of 
Science. 


PROFESSOR STORY-MASKELYNE, of Oxford, is to 
be honoured by the presentation of his portrait, 
which is being subscribed for by his admirers in 
recognition of his labours in mineralogical science. 


THe Local Committee for carrying out the 
arrangements of the British Association Meeting 
to be held this year in Liverpool, have their affairs 
well forward, and it will not be the fault of the 
Committee if the meeting is not a great success. 


Tue cuckoo and its foster parents formed the 
basis of an annual presidental address read before 
the North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club, by 
Mr. W. Wells Bladen, on March 19th. A reprint 
of his paper has been sent to us. 


THe American Association of Economic Entomo- 
logists will hold its eighth meeting at Buffalo, 
N.Y., on Friday and Saturday, 21st and 22nd of 
August. The meeting of the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science commences on 
August 24th, inthe same city. 


In the Report of the Guernsey Society of Natural 
Science and Local Research for 1895, we find a 
table of the sunshine for the year intheisland. It 
is easiest to understand what this means, by taking 
the summary of sunless days; which are eight in 
January, six in February, two in March, one in 
April, none in May, June,- July, August, or 
September, five in October, nine in November, 
nineteen in December, or 315 days in the year on 
which the sun shone. 

Tue Duke of Bedford has given to the Technical 
Instruction Committee of the Bedfordshire County 
Council, free of rent, the use of a farm of two 
hundred and seventy-five acres, for experimental 
purposes. In addition, he has provided lecture- 
rooms and other buildings for the accommodation 
of twenty resident students. By this munificence 
twenty boys at a time, holding free scholarships 
of the Council, will each reside for two years, and 
be instrucied in the science of farming. 


Str Wittiam H. Frower, the Director of the 
Natural History Museum, recently communicated 
a letter to the ‘‘ Times” protesting against the 
prevailing fashion adopted by cultured ladies of the 
higher social classes of wearing in their millinery 
egret plumes. 

Str WILLIAM FLOWER states that these people 
are in some instances members of the Society for 
the Protection of Birds, and in most cases are 
ladies who would shrink from any act of cruelty. 
They are, however, states Sir William, persuaded 
by fashionable milliners that these egret plumes 
are artificial, but all he has examined are the real 
feathers. ® 

It is possible that in a very few instances the 
powerful protest entered by a gentleman of Sir 
William’s position may stop the use of these 
feathers in millinery, but no protest short of an 
Act of Parliament making the wearing of wild- 
birds’ feathers penal will stay their extermination. 
The fact is the milliners are helplessly in the 
hands of the wholesale trade, who dictate in the 
first instance what their customers shall wear, 
Mankind has not yet overcome the imitative faculty 
which it chooses to call ‘‘fashion,” nor the 
barbarity of ornament, while people deck them- 
selves with metal and animal products obtained at 
the cost of enormous suffering. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


{ é; 
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| 


CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT, 


Position at Noon. 
A 


Rises. Sets. .A, 
August. wm. hm. hm. Dec. 
Sun se MO) reo AAAS EMINS con GASTON Soo NOYES Bas way? Ped INI 
20... 4.56 TeALO) ac MOH) © cry BY Guz? 
30) ooo Se s- 0:49 Bo MOLY) aay teh 7b 
Rises. Souths. Sets. 
Moon ...10.. 69 aM. ... 1.13p.m.... 7.56 p.m. 
2Oyeen Ol pilD... 10,16 poe Ontar cas 
30... 8.48 jag POPES a5) guts) pelea, 
Position at Noon. 
Souths. _ Semi R.A. 
hm. Diameter. hm. Dec. 
Mercury... 10 -»» 0.44 p.m. ... 2" 5 mech LOMA ccs Gos 3 uIN Ie 
Fe) coy eae oon LS FSA QIN com Oneige 
30 .-- 1.26 oon #8! 6) 2:2) OmES OMS. 
Venus ...10 .- O.4r p.m... 4” 9 959 -- 13° 49’ N. 
20 + 0.49 6 B® KOH oo CS wi 
30 -- 0.55 coo BY i 6 SHER) too A he 
WY — 4530) coy (HP ELING os HE 3138)... Guz N. 
20 ++» 6.6 - Al 4 AB LOe 27) 

: B0\e. 5.51 ace HUNG) 4.27 «.. 20° 36! 
Fupiter) <0 20... ITAL aM. -..14" 3 Bo) he 13 aap WHE) Gey INC 
Saturn ... 20... 4.49p.m. ... 7” 6 ETE) crn USS Zi! Se 
Uvanus ...20... 5.15 p.m. ... 1! 8 By X5 303) esl 
Neptune... 20... 7.20a.m. ... 1" 2 BRL 2IOR TA LIN 


Moon's PHASES. 


Last Qy.... Aug. 1... 6.34 p.m. Full ... Aug. 23... 7.4 a.m 
New so pp Chen HE Berns JEOA pl Sit enchoG Gian 
ist Ov. Mos CA Jonah 


THE Sun still shows small disturbances only 
upon his disc. 


MeETeEors should be specially looked for August 
3, 5, 7-13, 15, 19-22, notably on those nights 
during the earlier half of the month. 


MetTEor.—Mr. Geo. H. Knowles writes from 
South Hornsey: ‘‘I observed a meteor on the 5th 
July, at 12 o'clock, p.m., travelling from south to 
south-east, at splendid brilliance.” 


Durinc August the whole of the planets are 
poorly placed for useful observation. Mars rises 
about eleven on the rst, and before ten at the end 
of the month, but still displays a very small 
angular diameter. 


STAR ECLIPSED By A COMET.—Since our last 
number was in the press we have found in the 
Astyonomische Nachrichten that Signor Cacciatore, 
of the Palermo Observatory, on the evening of 
August 7th, 1864, saw an 8-magnitude star eclipsed 
by the nucleus of Comet I. of that year. 


Lunar EcripseE.—On August 23rd, the Moon 
comes into contact with the penumbra, at 4.8 a.m., 
the first contact with the shadow being at 5.24. 
As the Moon sets at 4.58 at Greenwich, all that 
can possibly be seen there will be the faint shading 
on the disc due to the penumbra. In the western 
portions of Ireland, however, the contact with the 
shadow will occur just before the moon sets. The 
eclipse is a partial one, its magnitude, taking the 
Moon's diameter to equal 1, will be represented 
BS = C75} 


79 


OCCULTATION OF JUPITER, JUNE 14TH.—Very 
many observers saw the disappearance of the 
planet, also of his four satellites, behind the dark 
portion of the moon which was readily visible 
by the earth-shine, or, to use scientific language, 
lumiéve cendvée. Speaking generally, the observers 
seem to have witnessed no phenomena that could 
have been due to the refraction of the very slight 
lunar atmosphere, the belts being visible across 
the planet right up to the moon's limb. 


VARIABLE STARS.—Some time since the Rev. 
T. E. Espin prepared, and very kindly forwarded 
to the writer, a list of objects of this class, mostly 
visible to the naked eye. This list is proving 
most useful in the preparation of our monthly 
aoe: Those in good position for August are given 

elow. 


R.A. Maenitude. 
h.m, N. Dec. Max. Min. Period, 
24 R.Cephei* 20.23 ... 88° 44’ ... 5 ... I 
IPXX1 S285) 125230) se 5OmiiL. veal onlO5 
5 1) 22:24 .. 57° 45’ . 3°7.. 4°9-..5d.8h. 47m. 395. 
MiGyeni. PeIOl52e ssn A44S AG ess 455-0807, 
63s satel le. esa Aye. She Sal 50 


* Sir W. Herschel’s famous ‘‘ Garnet Sidus.” 
+ Variable also in colour, yellowish to orange-red. 


Brooxs’ Comet, discovered 1889, returns to its 
perihelion about the end of August, or a little 
later. As we write, it is travelling through the 
southern part of Aquarius. It was observed by 
M. Javelle, at Nice, with the 30-inch refractor, on 
June 2oth, in R.A. 22h. 25m. 30s., S. Dec. 18° 33’ 59”, 
since which it has slowly moved eastward. Mr. A. 
C. D. Crommelin writes from the Royal Observa- 
tory, Greenwich, that on August rst the comet 
should be in R.A. 22h. 37m. 59s., S. Dec. 18° 32’. 
‘‘ The brightness on August rst will be double that 
on June 2oth,” when discovered at Nice. 


DRIVING-CLOCK FOR EQUATORIAL TELESCOPES.— 
Messrs. Horne and Thornthwaite have put on the 
market a neat and at the same time efficient piece 
of apparatus for driving instruments of moderate 
aperture. A tangent screw is acted on by a weight, 
whilst clockwork controls its speed of revolution. 
Mr. Overstall, the inventor, is to be congratulated 
in introducing so useful an attachment. Clock- 
work so much simplifies the employment of the 
micrometer and the spectroscope; indeed, much 
work of this class is absolutely out of the question 
without it. 


Tue total eclipse of the Sun on August gth is 
visible along a line stretching from northern 
Norway, across Nova Zembla, Siberia, Manchuria, 
to northern japan. At Greenwich the eclipse is 
totally invisible, but in Scotland, at sunrise, the 
end of the eclipse may be observed. Extensive 
preparations are, of course, being made to observe 
the phenomenon at various points along the line 
of totality. Many of our English observers will 
be stationed at Vadso, in Norway, situate about 
E. long. 30°, N. lat. 70° ro’... Endeavours will be 
made both to draw and to photograph the corona. 
Likewise the spectrum will be observed, all being 
well, directly, and also photographed, both with 
and without a slit. A little time since, Mr. D. E. 
Packer, of Birmingham, was telling us about 
photographs of the corona taken with a pin-hole 
camera on a photographic plate covered with lead- 
foil, and without an eclipse. It is to be hoped 
that on August gth he will be enabled to take some 
of these photographs to compare with those taken 
by the eclipse observers. 


80 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


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CONTRIBUTED BY G. K. GUDE, F.Z.S. 


ANNALI DEL MUSEO CIVICo Di STORIA NATURALE 
DI GENOVA. (Genoa: 1895. Wolume xxxiv.) A 
handsome portrait of the late Signor Andrea 
Podesta forms the frontispiece to the first cited 
volume. The voyage of Leonardo Fea, in 
Burma continues to bear fruit in the present 
volumes, in the shape of many important memoirs. 
Mr. C. J. Gahan, of the British Museum, con- 
tributes a list of the Longicorn Coleoptera, with 
descriptions of new genera and species, occupying 
104 pages, with 1 plate (English text). Dr. R. 
Blanchard treats of the Hirudinae (leeches), describ- 
ing two new species; M. A. L. Montandon, the 
Hemiptera, with several new genera and species; 
Dr. A. Schobaut describes a new species of the 
coleopterous genus Rhipidius; Herr J. Faust deals 
with the Curculionidae (weevils), in a German 
memoir of 218 pages; M. A. de Bormans on 
the Dermatoptera (earwigs) in French; M. J 
Vachal describes new species of the hymen- 
opterous genera, Halictus, Prosopis, Allodape and 
Nomtoides in French, with a discussion on their 
taxonomic order; Signor Carlo Emery enume- 
rates the Ants, many of which are new, and 
Herr G. Budde-Lund, the terrestrial Isopoda; 
the Rev. H.S. Graham describes the Coccinellidae 
in English, and M. A. Grouvelle two new beetles 
of the genus Rhysodes in French; Mr. R. J. Pocock, 
of the British Museum, reports on the Myriopoda 
(English text). The voyage of Signor Lamberto 
Loria to the Papuan Region has also resulted in 
many noteworthy contributions to science. Of 
these the Aradidae, a section of Hemiptera are 
discussed in Latin by Herr E. Bergroth; the Birds, 
five new species, by Signor T. Salvadori; the 
the Freshwater Fishes by Signor A. Perugia; the 
Brentidae (beetles) by Signor A. Senna. The 
results of Dr. Elio Modigliani’s travels in Sumatra 
are also given: Signor L. Camerano treats of two 
species of Gordius (worms); M. E. Candége, of 
the Elateridae (clickbeetles),in French; Herr L. von 
Graff on the land-planarians, in German; M. 
Charles Kerremans on the Buprestidae (beetles), in 
French; M. J. Richard on the Entomostraca, in 
French. The collections made by the same traveller 
in the Mentawei Islands are treated of by 
specialists: Mr. G. A. Boulenger, of the British 
Museum, deals with the Reptiles and Batrachians, 
in English; Signor T. Salvadori, the Birds from 
Sipora; and Mr. Oldfield Thomas, the Mammals, 
also from Sipora. Other memoirs, the results of 
various travellers’ collections, are ‘‘On some 
Mammals of Engano Island, West Sumatra,’ by 
Mr. Oldfield Thomas, in English ; ‘‘ On some new 
species of the genus Coftosoma, from Australia and 
New Guinea, belonging to the collection of the 
Civic Museum of Genoa,” by M. A. L. Montandon, 
in French; ‘‘ Contributions to our knowledge of 
the Diplopoda of Liguria,” by Mr. R. J. Pocock ; 
“« Diagnoses of new species of Cave Miriapoda,”’ 
by Signor F. Silvestri; ‘‘ New Species of Anthicidae 
(beetles),” by M. Maurice Pic; ‘‘ Chilopoda and 
Diplopoda from New Guinea,” by Signor F. 


Silvestri; ‘‘Cicindelae from Sumatra,” by M. 
W. Horn, in French; ‘‘Chilopoda and Diplopoda, 
collected by Captain G. Bove and Professor L. 
Balzan in South America,’”’ by Signor F. Silvestri. 


BULLETIN DE LA SOCIETE ZOOLOGIQUE DE 
France. (Paris, April-June, 1896.) MM. Jules 
de Guerne and R. Horst discuss a gigantic worm 
from the Basses-Pyrénées. M. Louis Petit, in an 
interesting article on ‘‘ The Destruction of Birds,” 
states that at the present time the barbarous 
fashion of decorating ladies’ hats with birds is 
fortunately on the decline. During the last two 
years, he informs us, only wings and egrettes are 
used (quite as bad); but as soon as the fashion 
revives the provincial purveyors will recommence 
their odious traffic, and thousands of these useful 
and beautiful birds will be sacrificed to the vanity 
of the weaker sex. Swallows and swifts form a 
large contingent of this wholesale massacre. After 
close time in France, the author informs us, no 
quail are allowed to be shot or offered for sale. 
Quite right; but of what use is this when their 
destruction is authorized on the other side of the 
Mediterranean? One thing is certain, as soon as 
the destruction of birds is stopped in France, the 
caterers for this degrading traffic will start for 
Algeria, as many have already done, and Tunisia, 
where they can kill and destroy without let or 
hindrance. One of the author’s correspondents 
assures him that during March every year quail 
are killed by thousands in the environs of Biskra, 
Onargla, and other places. The author advocates 
the formation of a committee with powers to 
proceed against the offenders. It might be 
suggested that a more efficacious mode of pro- 
cedure would be to make the traffic in birds killed 
for personal adornment illegal, or, better still, to 
make the wearing of them a penal offence ; but it 
is to be feared our legislators are not yet prepared 
for such drastic measures. Meanwhile, it is 
gratifying to note this well-timed protest against a 
barbarous custom on the other side of the 
Channel, whence the goddess of fashion sends 
her mandates to all parts of the civilized (?) 
world. M. Armand Janet relates an interesting 
instance of the adoption by a cat of a young 
guinea-pig. A friend made him a present, for his 
son, of two guinea-pigs, one thirty-four days old, 
the other ninteen days, the latter not having been 
weaned. They were placed with a cat who had 
two kittens. Knowing that cats sometimes eat 
guinea-pigs, they were carefully watched. The 
cat was somewhat surprised at this intrusion, and 
smelled the new-comers all over, but finally 
allowed them to lie close to her on the straw. 
Shortly after they were, however, removed. 
Directly, the cat came crying to the door, and 
upon its being opened, she entered at once and 
took up the younger of the two guinea-pigs and 
carried it to the box where her own offspring were 
installed. She then tried to carry the older 
guinea-pig, but as this resisted and squealed, it 
was taken up by the owner of the cat and placed 
with the other. The cat was now quite happy, 
and impartially licked the guinea-pigs as well as 
her kittens. They remained in the box with cat 
and kittens during about a week, and it was 
observed that the younger guinea-pig received a 
fair share of the suckling. After a time they were 
removed to a separate box, to which, however, 
the cat still had access, and she still continued to 
show her affection to her adopted children, coming 
at once whenever they cried, and licking and 
cleaning them just like her own offspring. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 81 


SIR JosEPpH PrestwicH, D.C.L., F.R.S., whose 
death we briefly recorded in our last number, was 
born in 1812, at Clapham, in Surrey. His early 
education was conducted in London, Paris, and 
at Dr. Valpy’s Grammar School at Reading, 
whence he passed to University College, London. 
In consequence of some lectures by Prof. Turner, 
his attention was drawn to the study of geology, 
to which he devoted much of his leisure after 
entering upon the occupation of a wine-merchant 
in the City of London. In that business he was 
successfully engaged until reaching his sixtieth 
year. Whilst travelling for the firm in his earlier 
days, he had many opportunities of observing the 
geology of Britain and for gathering fossils. 
When twenty-four years old, Dr. Prestwich wrote 
for the Geological Society of London an admir- 
able paper upon the geology of the Coalbrook Dale 
region of Shropshire, which brought his name 
favourably before the scientific public of the 
period. This was followed by a study, on the 
suggestion of Sir Roderick Murchison, of the 
Ichthyolites of Banffshire. His geological interests, 
however, soon centred about London in an exam- 
ination of the Eocene formations of the London 
Basin. This led to his defining and naming the 
Woolwich and Reading Beds, as well as the 
Thanet Sands. In this investigation he gave 
much attention to the organic remains in the 
London clay. He spent on this particular study 
most of his leisure for quite twenty years. One 
subject in connection with which Sir Joseph will 
long be remembered was the successful examination 
in valley gravels for evidence of early man, by 
which he was largely instrumental in showing that 
man and the mammoth were co-existant with 
various Other Pleistocene animals. This led to 
endless discussion on the antiquity of man, which, 
in some minds still remains a very unsettled specu- 
lation. In 1853, Sir Joseph was elected a Fellow 
of the Royal Society, of which he became a Vice- 
President in 1870, when he was also appointed 
President of the Geological Society. Having 
retired from the wine trade in 1872, he was offered 
the chair of Geology at Oxford two years later, on 
the death of Professor Phillips, from which 
professorship Prestwich retired in 1888. As a 
writer on geological subjects he was as _ well- 
known as voluminous. Sir Joseph Prestwich was 
selected by Her Majesty’s advisers for honour as 
a representative of science early in this year, 
though his delicate state of health forbade his 
acceptance of knighthood in person from the 
Queen. We understand, however, that he had 
long been Sir Joseph in his own right, through 
the inheritance of a baronetcy, though he never 
took steps to assume the title. The funeral took 
place at Shoreham churchyard, in North Kent, 
near his late residence, many persons of conse- 
quence in the geological world of science attending. 
The service was conducted by the Rev. Professor 
Bonney, F.R.S., assisted by the Rev. R. A. Bullen, 
the Vicar, who is also interested in natural science. 


i 
eet tee 


ERIES 


PLUSIA MONETA AT LEATHERHEAD, SURREY.— 
During the autumn and spring of 1894-5 I stocked 
our garden with a good number of plants of monks- 
hood, in the hope of attracting this rare moth, 
choosing three of the usual garden varieties of the 


plant. The season of 1895 did not produce any, 
but in the present year a successful result has 
occurred, for we took one specimen on the 7th, two 
on the 8th and one on the oth of July, on which 
evening another was lost. All were taken hovering 
at dusk over the flowers of the monkshood; in 
each case the variety of flowers being the ordinary 
white one with blue edges. I should be glad to 
know if any of your readers have observed Plusia 
moneta over any other variety of the plant.— 
C. A. Briggs, 55, Lincoln’s Inn Fields; July 16th, 1896. 


RoOKS SWALLOWING Fir-ConEs.—While much 
interested in the Rev. H. W. Lett’s observations 
(ante p. 52) of the rooks swallowing Scotch fir-cones 
whole, I can vouch for it that they by no means 
limit their attention to the smaller cones, for it isa 
common sight in some parts of Ireland to see 
rooks carrying full-sized pine-cones into the fields, 
and much curiosity has been expressed as to what 
they do with them. Thompson, in his ‘‘ Natural 
History of Ireland,” has the following remarks on 
the subject: ‘‘ What rooks do with the cones of the 
Scotch fir, subsequent to carrying them off, has not 
been ascertained. It would seem to me that unless 
the scales be so widely open that the seed is ready 
to drop out they can hardly reach it, and even then 
a portion only would be accessible. The scales 
themselves could only, I conceive, be detached 
when partially decomposed.” Thompson's atten- 
tion had been drawn to the subject apparently by 
his correspondent, Mr. Joseph Poole, of Wexford, 
who had observed the rooks at work “ carrying off 
cones of Scotch fir and dissecting them on the 
ground.” I had myself very frequently seen rooks 
in the act of carrying cones into the field and 
mangling them with their bills. On picking up 
these cones, of which I have examined a large 
number, chiefly in September and October, I have 
noticed (1) that the cones, though not small, were 
invariably green, and their scales, of course, still 
rigidly compact, and (2) that much of the green 
surface had been hacked away by the rook, but 
that this had been done in an awkward fashion, so 
that although it seemed difficult to doubt without 
further evidence that the seed was the real object 
of search, it was quite clear that in a great number 
of instances the seed had not been reached. I 
mentioned this peculiarity in the ‘‘Irish Naturalist” 
for October, 1894, page 210, and soon afterwards a 
very observant gentleman told me that his experi- 
ence only partly agreed with mine, inasmuch as 
the rooks which he had watched carrying cones 
into the fields made no attempt to eat, but buried 
them. From all these circumstances it is clear 
enough that the rooks’ conduct towards the cones 
of Pinus sylvestris varies not a little according to the 
occasion; but I think Mr. Lett's recent observation 


82 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


establishes this much, that the seed is not specially 
the bird’s object, but that the substance of the cone 
itself, when young and green, is found by the rook 
a good vegetable esculent. Probably as long as 
small cones are plentiful the rook picks them by 
preference, and swallows them whole, as Mr. Lett 
describes; when these are scarce, however, it 
carries off the larger, of which it eats only the 
outermost part, and if not particularly hungry it 
buries them, perhaps with a view to promoting 
decomposition, though on that point I refrain from 
committing myself to a decided opinion. It is 
curious to find how much notice this habit of the 
rook has attracted in Ireland, and how little, 
apparently, elsewhere. Can we have a species 
of rook, Corvus conilagus, all to ourselves? St. 
Kilda had a wren, whose fate we deplore grievously ; 
but the British ornithologist, if moderate in his 
desires, will not be begrudged a few specimens of 
the Irish rook for examination.—C. B. Moffat, 36, 
Hardwick Street, Dublin; July 7th, 1896. 

OysTER KiLttinc Mice.—A quaint mouse-trap, 
and a very effective one, has lately been discovered 
at the great fishing port of Grimsby. A resident of 
that town placed a living oyster on his pantry floor, 
and during the night it appears to have opened. 
Evidently tempted by the smell of fish, three mice 
placed their heads inside the open shell, whereupon 
the oyster quietly and rapidly closed; the result 


being as shown in the accompanying illustration. 
Oysters have been previously known to trap odd 
mice in a similar fashion, but the capture of three 
simultaneously is a fact which doubtless has never 
been surpassed by an oyster.—William H. Marris, 
118, Freeman Street, Grimsby. 


SCALARIFORME SHELLS.—In the month of June, 
1895, I found a living scalariforme monstrosity of 
Helix nemoralis on the Downs, east of Brighton in 
Sussex. It is asingle rather broad-banded (00300) 
var. libellula. Although the spiral is well developed, 
the specimen did not commence this peculiar 
growth until about the completion of the second 
whorl of the shell, the remaining four whorls 
somewhat resembling the figure of a specimen in 
the Liverpool Musuem on page 64 of volume i. of 
SCIENCE-GossIP (1894). On the 4th of July, 1896, I 
had the good fortune to finda scalariforme example 
of Helix pomatia in North Kent. Unfortunately 
it was not a living specimen and had been slightly 
injured on the second whorl and at the lip; still, 
after being cleaned, it makes a very handsome and 
interesting specimen. It is about one third larger 
than the scalariforme, H. pomatia, figured from the 
Liverpool Museum on the same page above referred 
to. The whorls in my specimen are much the 
same as these drawn, excepting the last, which is 


stouter. As the shell is heavy and strong, the 
animal apparently died from old age. These 
monstrosities are evidently very rare in a state of 
nature, for these are the only two I have met with 
among the hundreds of thousands of banded Helix 
shells examined by me during many years past.— 
John T. Carrington. 


ABNORMAL ASPARAGUS.—I am sending you a 
sketch of a curious growth of asparagus found in 
this garden. The stem is about three feet in length, 
bent into the shape shown in the sketch. It is 
one and three-quarter inches in breadth and barely 
a quarter of an inch in thickness, but as hard 
and stiff as a piece of board. I thought it might 
interest some of the readers of SclIENCE-GossIP.— 
C. M. Gibbings, Sunnyside, Mears Ashby, Northampton ; 
July toth, 1896. |The sketch indicates a fasciated 
example, which has been permitted to grow to 
maturity, giving it a very odd appearance. Fas- 
ciation is frequent in cultivated asparagus. ED.] 


RoosTiInG OF HELIX POMATIA.—During the re- 
cent intensely hot weather, I was surprised to find 
at Eynsford, Kent, some specimens of Helix pomatia 
roosting on twigs in an old ragged hedge, where 
they are not uncommon. The shells were very 
conspicuously placed, sometimes as much as four 
feet from the ground. Possibly they were tempted 
into this position during one of the few showers of 
rain which fell some weeks previously to my finding 
them, and when the sun shone ‘shortly afterwards, 
they remained where they were. This high roost- 
ing habit is common with H. hortensis and to a 
lesser degree also with H. nemoralis; but I do not 
remember having heard of it occurring among 
H. pomatia.—John T. Carrington ; July 15th 1896. 


TALES OF My TusKs.—Now that every loyal 
Briton is talking about H.R.H. Princess Maud of 
Wales and her marriage, it will interest some of 
our readers to know that she has a ‘‘collection.” 
It consists, as might be supposed from the in- 
dividuality of character of the princess, of anything 
but a ladylike hobby. Tusks—elephantine, ursine, 
porcine, rhinocerine and many others—have long 
been collected by Princess Maud. Each has its 
history, for they are chiefly trophies from the 
quarry of the mighty hunters of her family, taken 
in many distant lands. These stories, all true 
ones, are entered, in Her Royal MHighness’s 
characteristic handwriting, in several MS. books, 
bearing the title ‘‘ Tales of my Tusks.” When 
Princess Charles gets her SciENcE-Gossip for this 
month, she will see by page 75 that animals 
other than lions, snakes, sharks and alligators are 
bearers of tusks. 


Ferocity OF DrRaGon-FLy lLarvz. — To 
creatures larger than themselves the Libelluline 
larve must prove disagreeable antagonists. Hav- 
ing occasion to lift by a pair of forceps an 
L. 4-maculata larva, it immediately arched the 
nippers of the mask over its back until the top of the 
head was completely hidden while attempting to 
seize the steel in their powerful grasp, and actually 
producing a slight snapping noise in its rage. 
Endeavouring to test the sensation of contact with 
these caudal points, one of my fingers, carefully 
approached towards them, received a_ very 
decided prick in the rebound of the creature’s 
tail to its normal position, much more so than 
otherwise I should have believed possible. Larvee- 
nymphs, dead or alive, of all groups, will always 
be acceptable to me.—W. H. Nunney, 25, Tavistock 
Place, Bloomsbury, W.C. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 83 


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SoutH LonDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History SocietTy.—May 28th, Mr. C. G. Barrett, 
F.E.S., Vice-President in the chair. Mr. A. H. 
Bartlett, M.A., 34, Vanbrugh Park, Blackheath, 
was elected a member. Mr. McArthur exhibited 
a bred series of Hypsipetes ruberata and H. trifasciata 
from Hoy, which, as imagines, were inseparable ; 
the latter species was reared on heath. From the 
same locality, Eupithecia venosata, E. pulchellata, and 
Melanippe fiuctuata, var. neapolisata. Mr. Warne, 
the curious inverted wine-glass-shaped cocoon of a 
spider, said to be probably Agelena brunnea, found 
suspended among heather in the New Forest. Mr. 
Sauzé, a small specimen of Sinodendvon cylindricum, 
taken by Mr. Adkin at Worthing, and Ledra aurita, 
one of the remarkable Membracide, Silpha quad- 
vimaculata, Hippobosca equina, and Hoplia philenthus, 
all from the New Forest. Mr. West, on behalf of 
Mr. McArthur, specimens of Chrysomela arvensis, 
and C. sanguinea from Hoy, with C. distinguenda 
from the South of England, for comparison with 
the local northern C. sanguinea. Mr. Edwards, a 
twig of fir containing the nodule and larva of Tortrix 
piceana, from Brockenhurst. Mr. Filer, larve of 
Pecilocampa populi, and Trichiura crategi from 
Epping Forest. Mr. Clarke, microphotographs of 
the bacillus of lockjaw and of typhoid fever 
x 1000, the latter showing the flagelle very 
plainly. Mr. Montgomery had had a large brood 
of larve of Saturnia carpini, of which a very 
considerable number were attached by ichneumons. 
Mr. Adkin remarked on the abundance of parasites 
he had seen in his garden and elsewhere. In 
reporting on the Field Meeting at Brockenhurst, 
Mr. Edwards said that imagines were more 
plentiful than last year, and that larva beating was 
very successful. The weather was fine, and 
some twelve members were in attendance during 
the three days. Macroglossa fuciformis and M. 
bombyliformis were both captured. Larve of 
Limenitis sybilla, Catocala promissa, C. sponsa, Tenio- 
campa miniosa, Spilosoma mendica, Zephyrus quercus, 
and Z. betule were among the species found. 
—June 11th; Mr. C. G. Barrett, F.E.S., Vice- 
President, in the chair. Mr. Monington, 141, 
Broomswood Road, Wandsworth Common, was 
elected a member. Mr. Lucas exhibited specimens 
of Ichnura elegans, Pyrrhosoma minium and a series 
of Platetrum depressum, including a male which had 
not developed the blue colour characteristic of the 
sex. They were taken by Mr. Turner at Folke- 
stone on May 17th. Mr. West, of Streatham, a 
series of Macroglossa fuciformis, taken at Brocken- 
hurst during the Whitsuntide field-meeting. Mr. 
Barrett, specimens of the new Noctua (Leucania 
flavicolor), recently described by him, and which 
were captured on the coast of Essex by Mr. G. F. 
Matthew. It was apparently allied to L. pallens, 
from which it differed not only in colour and mark- 
ings, but also somewhat in the shape of the wings. 
It was thought that if this exhibit were again 
brought up, after members had examined their own 
series, a discussion could take place. Mr. Barrett 


also exhibited several beautiful, bright, uniform 
red forms of L. pallens from the same locality; a 
very large and dark specimen of Mamestra abjecta 
and a beautiful var. of the same, having all the 
markings clear and distinct upon a light ground; a 
var. remissa of Apaea gemina and a specimen of 
Hadena geniste, to both of which the var. of M. 
abjecta was comparablein many respects. Mr.N.E. 
Warne, a series of Procris statices from Keswick, and 
a few specimens of Emmelesia adequata (blandiata), 
one of which had the central band almost complete. 
Mr. Tunaley a specimen of Evmpis tessalata, having 
in its grasp a Tipula which it had captured. The 
middle legs of the Ermpis clutched the shoulders of 
the wings of the Tipula, the hind legs were bent 
under the wings and body, while the fore-legs of 
the Ermpis were free to grasp any support. The 
Tipula was thus held in a vice, and frequently lost 
its legs in the struggle. The Ermpis repeatedly 
pierced the thorax of the Tipula with its lancet, 
but was not always successful, owing to the 
struggles. This could easily be observed if the 
insects were placed together in a small glass-topped 
box. He also exhibited an asymmetrical form of 
Coremia designata from Ranmore, Surrey, having 
the band of the right primary narrower than usual 
but filled in completely with the dark colour. The 
inner margin of the band was straighter than in 
normal specimens. Mr. Mansbridge, a specimen 
of Syrichthus malue having a notch at the apex of 
all the wings in which the cilia were present, but 
shorter than usual. A discussion ensued, some 
members considering it to be caused by an injury 
to the pupa, and others thought that the cilia were 
shorter than usual and that the proximity of the 
white patch somewhat accentuated the appearance 
of the notch. Mr. Edwards, a specimen of the 
rare Papilo danisepa from the Khasi Hills, and a 
short series of Leptocivcus cuvius. He then read a 
few notes on the very aberrant genus of the Papili- 
onine, Leptociycus. After enumerating the species 
and stating the characters by which it differed from 
the other genera of the family, he described its 
distribution and quoted the opinions of various 
collectors that the species were mimics of species 
of Neuroptera both in their appearance and 
habits. It was noted by various members that 
the defoliation of the oaks was this year not so 
much due to the attacks of Tortrix viridana, but to 
the larve of the different species of Hybernia 
It was also remarked that oaks, having bright 
green foliage, had comparatively escaped attack, 
but that trees which had leaves of a dark 
brownish green were mostly completely stripped. 
—June 25th; Mr. R. South, F.E.S., President, in 
the chair. Mr. West, of Streatham, exhibited a 
bred series of Hypsipetes ruberata containing uniform 
and banded specimens, and a specimen of 
Trochilium crabroniformis, bred from an osier-stem 
cut at Streatham in expectation of obtaining 
Sesia formiceformis. Mr. R. Adkin, a bred series 
of Eupithecia venosata from Hoy, with series from 
Shetland, Forres and Isle of Man for comparison, 
and noted that the Orkney ones were of a browner 
shade, while the Isle of Man specimens were like 
South of England netted forms ; also full-fed larvae 
of Calocampa vetusta, reared on dock from Inverness- 
shire ova. Mr. Barrett, a series of the rare 
Osmylus chrysops from Haslemere. Mr. South, 
types of the variation obtained from a brood of 
Spilosoma menthastri from Aberdeen. Several were 
smoky, one had dark fringes, in another the 
edges of all the black markings had run in appear- 
ance. Mr. MacArthur, the five most remarkable 


84 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


forms of Abvaxas grossulaviata bred this year from 
some 3,000 larvee. In one, the black external to 
the yellow band was almost entirely suffused ; 
another was slightly smoky, and the spots had the 
appearance of having run; athird had the fore- 
wings almost entirely black, with the outer half of 
the hind wings wholly black; another had the 
hind wings with a narrow black border, from the 
middle of which a wide streak ran into the centre 
of the wing. The smoky form was remarked as 
being veryrare. Mr. Manger, the huge malodorous 
flower of the exotic orchid, Stanhopea tigrina. 
Mr. Dennis, a series of Cedonympha typhon from 
North Lancashire, taken early in June. The 
specimens had very pure white markings under- 
neath, referable to var. vothliebiiz. Also he exhibited 
several very brilliant Cyaniris argiolus from Horsley, 
of a shade approaching that of Polyommatus bellargus. 
Limenitis sybilla was reported to be flying in the 
New Forest early in June. Mr. Turner made a 
few remarks on the locality visited by the Society 
under the guidance of Rev. E. Tarbat on June 2oth. 
—Hy. J. Turner, Hon. Report. Secretary. 


SELBORNE SociETy (Croydon Branch).—Some 
twenty members of this Society met in lovely 
weather on the first Saturday in July for a ramble 
from Banstead Heath to Woodmanstowe and 
Coulsdon. On the first Saturday in each month 
the central Society has arranged to meet around 
Croydon. Last Saturday’s walk was a little-known 
one, and Opened up some very charming scenery. 
The early blossoming of wild-flowers was noticed ; 
amongst the appearances being red bartsia, melilot, 
wood-sage, St. John’s wort, meadow-sweet, yellow 
bedstraw and toad-flax. Prominent around an old 
lime-kiln a quantity of vipers’ bugloss was met 
with, some specimens being five feet high. The 
noble ash-trees of the plantations about Woodman- 
stowe were especially worthy of admiration. A 
hope was expressed that the District Council would 
be alive to the necessity of protecting the public 
footpaths now being threatened by the Chepstead 
Valley Railway in the neighbourhood of Cousldon. 


Nortu Lonpon NaturaL History SociETy.— 
At the meeting of May 23rd—Mr. C. B. 
Smith, President, in the chair —the exhibits 
included: Mr. Bacot, specimens of Tvyphena 
comes (orbona), bred from ova laid by two females 
taken at Sandown last September. The larve 
fed up during the winter on cabbage, carrots, etc., 
and the moths emerged during January, February, 
and March. As the larve got mixed, he was 
unable now to separate them into two broods, 
which was unfortunate, as the variation was 
considerable. The females were too worn to be 
worth keeping, but, so far as he could remember, 
there was nothing very remarkable about them ; 
also Tryphena janthina, bred from a female taken 
at Sandown. Mr. Simes, Efipactis grandiflora 
(white helleborine), Acevas anthvopophora (green- 
man orchis), Asperula odovata (woodruff), and 
Potevium sangwisorba (salad burnet). He gave an 
account of his work at Whitsuntide. On May 
23rd, at Epping Forest, he had seen Polyommatus 
phieas, larvee of Odonestis potatovia, ova of Euchloé 
cavdamines, Drepana binaria (hamula), D. cultraria, 
Eubolia plumbaria, Panagra petrvaria, Nisionades tages, 
and Syvicthus malve, but had noticed no fritil- 
laries. On May 24th, at Thames Ditton, he had 
seen the ova of Euchloé cavdamines on Evysimum 
alliavia, Sisymbrium cannabina and Cavdamine pratense, 
and had also noticed Anaitis plagiata, Pararge 
megeva, and a dwarf specimen of E. cardamines. 


On May 25th, at Ripley, he had seen Avgynnis 
euphrosyne, Lycena minima, L. bellargus, L. icarus, 
Euchelia jacobee, Euclidia glyphica, and larve of 
Cucullia verbasci, but no Nemeobius lucina. Mr. 
Harvey, specimens of the fruit of the oak, showing 
variation in size and shape, and the cuckoos and 
other eggs. Mr. Prout gave an account of the 
collecting on Epping Forest. He had taken the 
larvee of Astevoscopus sphinx off the buckthorn, and 
a specimen of Dicvanura furcula on a tree-trunk 
about 8.30 p.m., and the larve of Tvichuiva crategi 
were again being foundcommonly. Mr. Prout read 
a paper written by his sister on ‘‘ The Oak Tree.” 
On June 13th this Society made an excursion to Ox- 
shott, arriving at about 10.30a.m. Ongetting over 
the railway bridge on to Esher Common, Mr. Lovis 
espied a freshly-emerged specimen of Chevocampa 
porcellus at rest on a small plant. On proceeding 
over the Heath several Anarta myrtilli were seen. 
A pine-wood produced Bupalus piniavia. Mr. C. 
Nicholson took a fine specimen of the local Tortrix 
piceana. Some half-dozen specimens of Ellopia 
prosapiavia were found at rest on the pine-trunks, 
on which also occurred Scopavia ambigualis, of 
which fifteen were counted on one tree. 


NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 


To CoRRESPONDENTS AND EXCHANGERS.—SCIENCE-GOSSIP 
is published on the 25th of each month. All notes or other 
communications should reach us not later than the 18th of 
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munications can be inserted or noticed without full name 
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following rules. All contributions must be clearly written 
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must have identifying numbers attached, together with 
locality, date and particulars of capture. 

Att editorial communications, books or instruments for 
review, specimens for identification, eic., to be addressed to 
Joun T. CarrineTon, 1, Northumberland Avenue, London, 


W.C. 
EXCHANGES. 


Nortice.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including 
name and address) admitted free, but additional words must 
be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words 
or less. ® 

CucKoos’ EGGS with those of foster parent wanted. — 
W. Wells Bladen, Stone, Staftordshire. 

Microscore.—Swift’s Histological, 5 eye-pieces, 1”, 2”, 3,"- 
objectives, substage, condenser, etc., nearly new, worth £22; 
exchange for astronomical telescope to value or ofter,— 
Letters to J. C. Webb, 32, Henslowe Road, Dulwich, S.E. 

Eccs of glaucous gull, great black back, kittiwake, laugh- 
ing gull, gannet, Bartram’s sandpiper, roseate tern and 
others. Wanted, clutches with data of many of the smaller 
birds.—K. H. Jones, St. Bride’s Rectory, Manchester. — 

BritisH _Birps’ Eccs.—For exchange, common, kittiwake 
and other gulls, R. T. divers, R. N. phalarope, eiders, five 
species terns, guillemots (choice and common), cormorants, 
rock-pipits, nightjars and others; also bird-skins and well- 
stuffed specimens. Wanted, other British clutches of eggs. 
—E. G. Potter, 19, Price Street, York. ~ ; 5 

WantTeED, slides (by Flatters) and trilobites; in return, 
shells, fossils, unmounted objects, etc. Offers wanted for 
1890-1895 SCIENCE-GOSsSIP, “Naturalist’s Journal,’”’ 1894-5.— 
A. Sclater, Naturalist, Teignmouth. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 85 


SUMMER AT THE NORTH POLE. 


By Dr. N. 


Why regard to the projected voyage of Mr. 

Chief Engineer Andrée, of the Swedish 
Patent Office, to the North Pole in a balloon, the 
opinion has been expressed that such an under- 
taking would encounter insurmountable difficulties. 
For instance, some persons seem to think that in 
the lower strata of the Polar atmosphere all winds 
blow towards the Pole; therefore the atmosphere 
would there ascend and, at a great height, flow 
southwards, and as the projected aerial voyage 
would be performed at a mean height of about 250 
metres (that is, in the lower strata of the air), 
Andrée and his companions, of whom I shall be 
one, would reach the Pole, but not be able to get 
away. Even more curious ideas have been 
broached, and these have caused the writer, as a 
member of various Arctic expeditions, to examine 
into the wind temperature and cloud conditions 
around the Pole during summer, the results of 
which are presented in this paper. 


THE WIND CONDITIONS. 


During the month of July a high atmospheric 
pressure lies over the Central Atlantic Ocean and 
Central Europe, whereby westerly winds mostly 
prevail between America and England and North 
Germany. A corresponding high pressure is 
situated over the northern part of the Pacific 
Ocean, accompanied by south-westerly winds in its 
northernpart. Quite the reverse are the conditions 
over the highly-heated continents. Over these there 
lie great minima, accompanied by north-easterly 
wind over Siberia, which changes to north-westerly 
in the northern part of European Russia. In British 
North America the minimum is divided into several 
minor pressures, but still northerly winds are the 
prevailing. North of the central Atlantic maxi- 
mum there are situated some smaller minima over 
Scandinavia, south of Iceland and Baffin’s Bay. 
North of these are the regions which interest us 
more especially, and which are but little explored. 

By the aid of the barometer and wind observa- 
tions made at various Polar stations, particularly 
those at Fort Conger (the Greely expedition), 
Cape Thordsen (the Swedish expedition of 1882-83), 
and Franz Josef’s Land (the Austrian expedition, 
under Pazan), we are able to form an idea of the 
weather conditions around the Pole—an idea 
which, I believe, approaches very near reality. 

The meteorologists Haun and Buchan have 
drawn charts of the atmospheric conditions at the 


* Chief of the Royal Swedish Meteorological Office, and 
companion of Herr Andrée in the present attempt to make a 
balloon voyage to the North Pole. 


SEPTEMBER, 1896.—No. 28, Vol. 3. 


EKHOLM.* 


North Pole, and they come to the conclusion that 
a vast but weak barometrical maximum extends 
away from the Pole on all sides. But in framing 
these charts all the material at our disposal has 
not been utilised. The writer has from the same, 
supported by the wind observations made at Fort 
Conger and Spitzbergen, come to the conclusion 
that the great Polar maximum of Haun and 
Buchan shall be separated into three parts, one 
situated south of Spitzbergen, one over the inland 
ice of Greenland and one over Northern Alaska. 
Over the Pole itself a weak minimum most 
probably rests. This was evident from the weather 
observations made at Cape Thordsen, Spitzbergen. 
They show that storm-centres in July, coming 
from the Iceland minimum, sometimes pass to the 
north of Iceland west of Spitzbergen, toward the 
Pole, instead of as usual going in a westerly 
direction. Likewise minima sweep sometimes past 
Fort Conger Polewards. 

As regards the frequence of southern winds at 
Spitzbergen in July, the Swedish expedition of 
1882-83 observed that the wind on eighteen days 
of forty-six (July 1-August 15) blew between S.S.E. 
and S.S.W., and on ten days a corresponding 
movement of the clouds in the strata was observ- 
able. As thus several days are fine we may con- 
clude that a wind favourable to the balloon voyage 
would prevail for about one-third of the season 
selected for the undertaking. 


THE COURSE OF THE BALLOON. 


The balloon would, therefore, in all probability, 
follow a minimum on its straight road from 
West Spitzbergen across the Pole, and then be 
carried down towards the Siberian coast, where 
northerly winds prevail. It is,. therefore, not 
improbable that the balloon would then sail west- 
wards towards European Russia or Scandinavia. 
But, be it understood, that would be the case under 
the most favourable conditions, which are based 
upon average calculations, from which there are 
frequently great deviations. 


THE TEMPERATURE. 


The fluctuations of temperature are less com- 
plicated than the divisions of atmospheric pressure, 
which is shown by two comparative charts I have 
drawn that indicate the divisions of barometrical 
pressure and heat around the Pole. We have 
reason to conclude that the temperature around 
the Polein July is very steady and uniform. There 
is a continuous day, and the sun’s heat which falls 
upon every yard of the earth's surface is fairly 


86 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


equal over a wide area of the surface. Besides, 
there are vast masses of ice and snow which 
prevent the temperature from rising very much 
above freezing-point. From observations made we 
may conclude that in the month of July the tempera- 
ture around the Pole is about 2° C. (35:6 F.). But 
through the direct action of the sun on the balloon 
a far more pleasant temperature should be enjoyed. 
This is as regards the surface of the earth. But 
at higher altitudes of course the temperature is 
lower, falling about 1° C. per 200 metres. Thus at 
a height of 250 metres we may expect to encounter 
a temperature of 1° C. (33:8 F.). Along the shores 
of the Arctic Ocean the temperature in July 
averages about 6° C. (42°8 F.); north of this isotherm 
there are no thunderstorms or hail, fine snow only 
falling. Thus there is no danger of the balloon 
being struck by lightning or hail. On account of 
the even atmospheric conditions, violent storms 
are comparatively rare in the Polar regions in 
summer, which should augur well for the success 
of the expedition. 


CLOUDS AND FoGs. 


When warm water and ice meet thick fogs are 
generated. Such is for instance the case between 
Norway and Spitzbergen where the Gulf Stream 


flows into the Polar ice, and at the North Siberian 
coast where the great Siberian rivers discharge 
their warm waters into the ice. Some have from 
this concluded that such fogs are general in the 
Polar regions, and prevent us observing the surface 
of the earth. This is a mistake. Fogs are rare 
near the Pole. At Cape Thordsen we observed 
fogs in July only during nine per cent. of the whole 
month, and in August only during four per 
cent. At Mosselbay (further west in Spitzbergen) 
there were observed in July and August (July 
observations are wanting) fogs during only six per 
cent. of the entire time, and at Fort Conger fogs 
were very rare. If the sky be always overcast, it 
would be impossible to determine the course of the 
balloon by astronomical observations, and although 
the cloudiness is greater at Spitzbergen than with 
us in summer, the observations from Cape 
Thordsen and Fort Conger agree that in July 
the sky is cloudless on thirty per cent. of its 
surface, and this more than suffices for our 
astronomical observations. Nor is it probable 
that the cloudiness increases northwards from 
these stations. 

As regards the descent of the balloon, a map has 
been traced showing the northenmost limit of 
human habitations. 


BOM a NIC AGE sOrl ail INtG Se 


By THE ReEv. HILDERIC FRIEND. 


FEW items of sufficient interest to make them 
noteworthy have recently come under my 
observation. Having for many years been in the 
habit of recording any exceptional occurrence, I 
now find it easy to detect anything unusual, and 
the following facts have struck me as being some- 
what out of the ordinary course of events. 


I.—THE GUELDER ROSE. 


This interesting shrub (Viburnum opulus, L.) is so 
widely distributed, and both by its flowers and 
fruit is rendered so conspicuous, that everyone in 
the least acquainted with plants will be familiar 
therewith. Its flower-cymes usually have a circlet 
or ray of barren florets, which correspond with the 
white ray florets in the marguerite. When the 
whole flower is rendered barren by cultivation or 
otherwise, the flower-heads form a perfect globe, 
whence the name of snow-ball tree. Sir John 
Lubbock’s note shows that its method of fertiliza- 
tion has been little studied. ‘‘ Viburnum (the 
guelder rose) secretes honey,” he says, ‘‘and the 
flowers are collected into a head as in the elder, 
but the outer florets have the corolla considerably 
enlarged at the expense of the stamens and pistil. 
Although, therefore, they produce neither pollen nor 


seeds, they are useful to the plant, by rendering the 
outer flowers more conspicuous, and thus attract- 
ing insects” (‘British Wild Flowers,’ p. 1009). 
The inference is that the flowers are ‘‘ accessible to 
all insects,’ and may, therefore, be fertilized by 
any. No allusion is made to the peculiar odour 
emitted by the flowers when the dews of evening 
fall upon them—an odour somewhat resembling 
that of the horse-daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthe- 
mum, L.) and some other flowers, and partaking 
strongly of the character of urate of ammonia. 
I was first struck by this when walking along 
a Sussex lane one erening some years ago. 
But my present object is to call attention to a 
peculiarity which has now been more than one 
season in succession under inspection. This 
peculiarity will be best understood by comparing 
the two photographs which I have taken—the one 
to represent the guelder rose in its normal attire, 
the other in what seems to be a very unusual form. 

About five miles from Cockermouth, in a 
northerly direction, is the little hamlet of Sunder- 
land. It is in the parish of Isel, and chiefly 
belongs to Sir Wilfred Lawson, M.P. I was 
walking from Isel to Sunderland recently, just 
when the viburnum was in its prime, and eagerly 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 87 


looked for the two forms of flower here represented. 
I was curious to learn whether the tree which bore 
fertile flowers only had done so on former 
occasions by a mere freak, or whether it was a 
persistent habit. I soon found that the habit was 
persistent. One solitary shrub by the roadside, on 


NORMAL GUELDER RosE (Viburnum opulus). 


the left hand a few hundred yards before entering 
the village, is rendered peculiar by the utter ab- 
sence from its cymes of all the large white florets 
which make the other plants so conspicuous. 
Not only are the flowers wanting in barren forms, 
but the fertile ones are much more crowded and 
compact (as will be seen by the illustrations), 
so that if it was not for the foliage one might 
easily imagine, at first sight, that the two shrubs 
were totally unrelated. This lack of ray florets for 
advertising purposes, however, does not result in 
barrenness, for in the autumn the one tree is just as 
heavily laden with fruit as the other. The question 
then arises: whichis the typical form? That the fact 
Thave stated has animportant bearing on evolution 
is clear ; but it would be interesting to know whether 
in the unusual form we havea case of reversion to 
type, or in what other way the peculiarity may be 
accounted for. I shall not myself venture on a 
Suggestion. In such cases it is, in my opinion, 
better to collect a sufficient body of evidence first, 
and I give mine for what it is worth. 


2.—THE SmMooTH TOWER CRESS. 


On June 6th, 1895, when I was at Isel, my eye 
was arrested by the presence on a hedgebank of a 
plant which I had never seen growing wild in the 
district before. Having often found it among 
aliens at Silloth and elsewhere, I was perfectly 
familiar with its form, and instantly recognized it as 
a choice record. On reaching home, I looked up 
its history in Baker's ‘‘ Flora of the Lake District.”’ 


E 


It reads as follows. ‘' Twritis glabra, L. (long- 
podded or smooth tower mustard). Native, English 
type, Range rt. Dry banks, very rare. Cumber- 
land—Stainburn, near Workington (Mr. Tweddle). 
Westmorland—in the red sandstone tract at Clib- 
burn, near Penrith (Lawson).”’ 

I sent on the specimen to Mr. W. Hodgson, 
A.L.S., of Workington, who has a revised Flora of 
the district ready for the press, and received a 
reply to the effect that this was an entirely 
new locality, and, curiously enough, the only 
locality in which the plant is at present found, it 
having become extinct elsewhere.* There were at 
least half a dozen plants in seed last year, and 
I fully purposed this year to visit the spot during 
the flowering season, in order to obtain her- 
barium specimens for correspondents. Owing 
to my being at the time in Ireland, I was unable 
to do this, and when I visited the spot 
on june 7th (just a year after making the 
discovery) I found that the plant was again in 
fruit. There were at least a score of the most 
vigorous specimens. Some were not less than 
four feet in height, while the weakest were a yard 
from root to tip. Each plant was crowded with 
seed-pods, and if the herbage should not be cut 
down within a fortnight of my visit, the seeds 


ABNORMAL GUELDER ROSE. 


would be ripe and become dispersed ready for 
next year’s growth. 

And this leads me to the last point on which I 
can dwell in this article, namely— 


3.—THE DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 


The subject of phyto-geography is one of 
intense interest and value. Everyone who can 
give well-ascertained facts and careful observations 
on the subject should do so. During my recent 
visit to Ireland, I made notes of several facts which 
struck me; but nothing created so great an 


* On July rsth I received a letter from the Rev. Basil W. 
Lovejoy, enclosing a specimen of the plant found by him 
about half-a-mile from Edenhall Vicarage, on the Great 
Salkeld Road. As it is in all probability indigenous in this 
locality, we now have the tower cress from two Cumberland 
habitats. 


2 


88 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


impression on my mind as the remarkable pre- 
dominance of certain plants within given areas 
along the coast between Barrow and Whitehaven 
witnessed on my return home. The rapid trans- 
portation of the observer from point to point by 
means of the locomotive enables him to observe 
the prevailing types, though it does not allow his 
mind to be diverted by the minute details. While 
there are hundreds of plants which are of universal 
distribution, there are certain special flowers which 
only predominate within a given range, but here 
‘they rule as kings. Thus I noticed that from 
Barrow to Millom the horse-daisy was dominant. 
The sides of the line, especially seaward from 
Seascale to Sellafield, were perfectly red with 
countless myriads of blossoms of the blood- 
geranium (Gevanium sanguineum); from Sellafield 


northward, patches of the burnet-rose in full flower 
made a lovely and delicate carpet, then a veritable 
“field of the cloth of gold’’ was spread over with 
Lotus blossoms, and finally around Nethertown the 
great mullein (V. thapsus) was in the ascendant. 
Thus the geranium, burnet-rose and mullein were, 
within certain bounds, the ruling plants, but out of 
those bounds not a solitary specimen could be seen. 
At Skinburness, on the Solway, the burnet-rose and 
geranium grow side by side. Elsewhere, I have 
found the tall mignonette or woad predominant. 
These facts are very suggestive, and I should 
myself be delighted if other observers would favour 
us with a record of the more striking phenomena 
of plant distribution which have come, or yet may 
come, under their purview. 

Cockermouth, June 11th, 1896 


ARMATURE OF HELICOID LANDSHEELS; 


AND A New SPECIES OF CORILLA. 


By G. K& Gupbe, F.Z-S. 


HAT Mollusca have numerous enemies is a 
fact well known to naturalists, for not only 
do they serve as food for many mammals, birds 
and reptiles, but they are preyed upon by some 
insects, and even by other mollusca. Naked slugs 
are especially exposed to the attacks of birds, slow- 
worms and snail-slugs (Testacella); and, in foreign 
countries, of carnivorous snails, such as Glandina 
and others. Shell-bearing Mollusca likewise are 
devoured by birds and mammals; they have 
besides many insect enemies, particularly under 
tropical climates, and we shall, therefore, not be 
surprised to find that in several instances these 
creatures have come to be provided with special 
means of protection. This has been attained in 
various ways, indirectly by protective resemblance 
between the forms or colours of the shells and 
their immediate surroundings; or, directly, by 
special structures, such as teeth, plates, or constric- 
tions, serving as buttresses or barricades behind 
which the animal can withdraw. It is probable, 
however, that these structures may at the same 
time help to strengthen and support the outer wall 
of the shell, and in this manner safeguard the 
mollusc against injuries, accidental or otherwise. 
In the following notes I propose to consider the 
several special structures or forms of armature, 
just indicated, as they are found in many of the 
genera of Helicidae, which have come under my 
notice. It will, of course, be understood that the 
operculum, which is so generally present in marine 
mollusca, and in the land and freshwater shells 
taxonomically associated with them, and the 
clausilium or elastic door, which characterizes and 
gives its name to the well-known genus of land- 


shells Clausilia, are also means of protection ; but 
they do not form an integral part of the shell, and 
I do not propose to consider them here. A point 
to be noticed with regard to the armatures under 
consideration is that they are not the exclusive 
property of any particular genus, or wider group, 
but occur in various genera or groups, often of 
distant affinity. 
I. CorILia. 

The Helicoid genus Covilla, with which we are 
concerned in the first place, is an interesting group 
of landshells inhabiting the jungles of Ceylon, 
with a single outlying species in the southern 
point of the Indian Peninsula. The armature, 
which sometimes exhibits considerable complica- 
tion, consists generally of a variable number of 
revolving plates or folds on the inner side of the 
shell- wall. It may be 
mentioned as a curious 
fact that a single species, 
namely Corilla charpen- 
tievt (Ceylon), is devoid 
of armature (fig. 1). 

I was favoured not 
long ago by Mrs. R. S. 
Fry, of Singapore, with 
some shells collected by 
her during a stay of several months in Ceylon; 
amongst these were eight specimens of a shell which, 
at first, I was inclined to refer to Corilla odontophora, 
of Benson, but, after some research and careful 
comparison with allied forms, it became evident 
that I had to deal with a new form. It is probable, 
however, that it already exists in collections, as 
Mr. Hugh Fulton sent me a specimen labelled 


Fig. 1.—Corilla charpentieri. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 89 


Corilla hwmberti, and Mr. John Ponsonby also 
possesses specimens of a similar form under the 
same name ; but on submitting one of my specimens 
to the describer of that species, Dr. A. Brot, 
of Geneva, he informed me at once that it was 
not Corilla humberti, but rather, he thought, a 
variety of Corilla ervonea, of Albers. Dr. Brot 
obligingly forwarded one of the only two speci- 
mens of Corilla humberti known to exist in collec- 
tions, so that, thanks to his kindness, I am 
enabled to give a figure of it for comparison with 
its allies. 

There appears to be a certain amount of 
confusion with regard to the limits of some 
species, as well as to the position and number of 
teeth or plates in some of the Cingalese members 
of the genus, and it is hoped that the present 
notes may help to elucidate some of the doubtful 
points. The new shell is certainly distinct from 
all the published species of the group, and I have 


Fig. 2.—Corilla fryae. Fig. 3.—Corilla ervonea. 


much pleasure in associating with it the name of 
the lady to whose kindness I am indebted for this 
valuable addition to my collection.* 


* Corilla fryae, n. sp.—Testa late umbilicata, ovato-rotun- 
data, discoidea, solidula, rufo-castanea, planulata, oblique 
costulata, subtus valde concava, striata, pernitida; spira 
plana, sutura vix impressa. Anfr. 5 vix convexiusculi, inter 
suturam et peripheriam valde angulati, ultimus subtus 
ornatur striis spiralibus quae secundum latus lineis vel rugis 
impressi$ obliquis decussantur; antice convexior, valde 
dilatatus, profunde descendens. Apertura obliqua, obtuse 
subcordata, lamellis 3 parietales (media elongata, validaque, 
laterales minores, profundaeque), 4 palatales flexuosae, 
longulae, perlucentes, 3 ab apertura visibiles. Peristoma ex 
albido purpurescens vel rufo-castaneus, callosum valde 
reflexum, margo SunSrior sub-dentate crassior, inferior dente 
valido atquae quadrato armatur.—Diam. maj. 26, min. 20, 
alt.8 mm. Hab.—Albion Estate, Lindula District, Ceylon. 

Corilla fryae differs from Corilla erronea (compare figs. 3a 
and 3b) in being more rounded in outline, larger, darker in 
colour and more shining beneath, the ribs are more regular 
and less coarse ; the whorls are less convex, almost flattened 
and distinctly angulated, almost keeled, midway between the 
suture and the periphery, while the suture is less impressed ; 
the last whorl is more constricted, and suddenly widens 
towards the aperture, becoming again constricted behind the 
peristome, and it is more deeply deflected in front; the 
mouth is much less oblique, the palatal folds are longer and 


Several of the specimens being more or less 
weatherworn, I had the less compunction in break- 
ing away parts of the walls at various points, so as 
to examine their internal structure thoroughly, and 
to report thereon with precision. To enable the 
reader to understand the following remarks, I will 
here mention that those teeth or plates found on 
the inner wall of the shell are known as parietal, 
while those on the outer wall are called palatal. 


Fig. 4.—Corilla fryae. 


In fig. qa, the parietal plates are shown on the 
left and the palatal on the right of the aperture: 
the figure shows a perfect shell of Covilla fryae. 
To the left of the aperture the median plate will be 
observed reaching outwardly up to the extreme 
margin of the parietal callus, while the tips only of 
two other plates, one on each side of the median, 
can be discerned. I propose to designate them by 
numerals, and, beginning at the top of the shell, 
the first will of course be No. 1, the median No. 2, 
and the next No. 3, In fig. 4b, a part of the 
outer wall has been removed, and the edge thus 
exposed is shown perpendicularly to the line of 
sight ; here on the right the curved and revolving 
parietal plates Nos. 1 and 3 show their inner 
terminations, while a reference to fig. ge will 
explain why parietal plate No. 2 is invisible in the 
former figure, as it terminates at about half the 
length of Nos. 1 and 3, and there unites with the 
former. To return to fig. 40, on the left four 
palatal plates will be observed, which will be 
numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively, from the top 
of the shell downward. 

It will be noticed that No. 1 curves upwards 
towards the shell-mouth (not shown in the figure), 
while No. 2 interlocks between the parietal teeth 
Nos. r and 3, and as it curves upwards towards the 


more flexuous, and the tooth on the basal edge of the peris- 
tome is longer and more quadrate; in this latter respect, as 
well as in contour and shape, the new shell more resembles 
Corilla odontophora. The specimens were all collected on 
the edge of a jungle where a new clearing was being made, 
on the Albion Estate, Lindula District, Ceylon (fgs.2, 4, 5, 6). 


go SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


mouth, following for some distance the curvature 
of the second parietal plate, it is almost in 
juxtaposition with the latter; the third palatal 
plate also curving upwards, terminates below the 
third parietal one which curves downwards, and 
they therefore cross each other about the middle; 
No. 4 is situated very low down, close to the 
junction of the outer with the inner wall, and 
proceeds in an almost horizontal direction. These 
palatal plates are distinctly visible externally 
through the shell, and they are thus shown in 
figs. 4c and 4d, the latter figure exhibiting Nos. 
I, 2 and 3, while the former shows Nos. 2, 3 and 4. 
The specimens delineated in figs. 2 and 4 are all 
mature, and as in this condition they are composed 
of 5 whorls, it follows that the plates are placed 
near the end of the fifth whorl. In fig. 4f the 
palatal plate No. 2 is shown by itself, the upper 
convex line indicating its attachment to the shell- 
wall. An interesting fact was revealed by the 
examination of an immature specimen received 
with the others; on breaking away the walls at 
various points, five palatal plates were observed in 
the fourth whorl, at a point which would be inter- 
sected by a line from the apex of the shell to the 


and laminae of the Pupidae, observed that “they 
may answer the purpose of an operculum to keep 
out enemies, while they afford no obstacle to the 
motions of the soft and yielding body of the 
animal ”’ (‘‘ Zoological Journal,” iv., 1829, p. 168, 
footnote). As illustrating the vulnerability of 
unarmed shells, it may be mentioned that Jeffreys 
found a half-grown specimen of Helix strigella 
containing the larvae-form pupa of Drilus flavescens, 
the female of which has been named Cochleoctonus 
vorax from its snail-eating habit. He also found 
a similar pupa in a Helix incarnata, which, as in the 
case of Helix stvigella, completely occupied the spire 
of the shell, of which it had devoured the former 
inhabitant (‘Annals and Magazine of Natural 
History’ (3), vi, 1860, p. 348). Of much interest 
is a note by Lt.-Col. Godwin Austen, who, in a 
paper on the Asiatic landshell genus Plectopylis, 
states that ‘‘ when breaking up a number of shells 
to expose the barriers and ascertain if their char- 
acters were constant, I was greatly interested to 
find in two instances the presence of small insects 
that had become fixed between the teeth.” He 
further remarks that those shells possessing such 
bars to the predatory visits of insects, such as 


Figs. 5 and 6.—Covilla fryae, immature x 2. 


point where the plates would be found in the mature 
shells. This specimen is represented in figs. 5 
and 6. On reference to fig. 5 it will be seen 
that the upper four of these plates are much 
broader than those of the mature shells, as they 
reach nearly to the inner wall and overlap, 
being placed close together, slanting upwards, but 
scarcely curving; No. 5 is very short and narrow, 
and corresponds in position to No. 4 in the older 
shells; fig. 6 shows the upper four plates in their 
immature position as seen through the shell. No 
plates being found in the fourth whorl of the 
mature shells, the inference is that as the shell is 
completed the plates first formed are absorbed by 
the animal, and this fact supports the view that 
the plates form barriers to exclude predatory 
insects. It may also be assumed that the animal 
produces similar plates from an early stage of its 
existence, absorbing them as each successive 
whorl with its complement of plates is completed ; 
but this of course can only be demonstrated by the 
examination of a series of shells in various stages 
of growth. That structures of this kind serve asa 
means of defence was suggested as long ago as 
1829 by Guilding, who, in speaking of the teeth 


Fig. 7.—Covilla erronea. 


certain kinds of beetles, ants, or even leeches, all 
of which swarm in the forests where the shells 
are found, would have the best chance of sur- 
viving. (‘‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society 
of London,” 1874, p. 611.) 

In fig. 7b, a portion of the inner side of the 
outer wall of the allied species, Corilla evvonea 
(Ceylon), is shown with the plates 7 situ, disposed 
in much the same manner as in Covilla fryae; they 
are, however, shorter and less curved; the parietal 
plates are almost identical in position and shape 
with those of Corilla frvae, as shown in fig. 7a, but 
they are shorter and the union of Nos. 1 and 2 is 
not so complete. Fig. 7¢ shows a specimen side- 
ways, which is of interest on account of a small 
adventitious tooth between palatal plates Nos. 2 
and 3. 

In figs. 84 and 8b Covilla vivolii, of Deshayes 
(Ceylon), is delineated, the latter figure showing 
the remarkably reflected lip, and the three parietal 
plates, of which Nos. 1 and 3 are much more 
exserted than in the two- previously-mentioned 
species ; the palatal plates also reach much nearer 
to the edge of the lip than in the other two species, 
but they are not shown in the figure, as the mouth 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. gI 


of the shell was turned too far to the left. Fig. 8a 
shows the same shell with part of the outer wall 
removed, from which it will be seen that the 
arrangement of the plates is similar to that in 
Covilla fryae and C. erronea ; there is, however, 
what appears to be a small adventitious palatal 
plate or tooth between Nos. 3 and 4, but this 
was not found to be constant in other specimens 
of this species which I examined, and it may 
therefore be assumed that this is an abnormal case. 
Since writing the above, Mr. Ponsonby has kindly 
placed at my disposal two 
immature specimens of 
C. rivolii, the examination 


of which bears out the 
statement already made, 
that plates are formed at 
the various stages of 
b growth, which are after- 


wards absorbed. These 
two specimens are shown 
in figs. ga-of, of which 
a-e exhibit one with four 
whorls completed, having five palatal plates, which 
resemble those of Corilla fryae (figs. 5 and 6) in 
being different in character from the mature plates. 
Here again they are much broader, they are also 
seen to be triangular, to overlap and to reach 
almost to the inner wall; no parietal plates are 
present. In fig. 9a the palatal plates are shown 
as seen on looking into the aperture, in fig. 9b 
they are looked at more from below, the shell 
being tilted a little. In figs. 9c and od they are 
shown as seen externally through the shell- 
wall. In fig. 9¢ the same specimen is depicted, 
seen from above, the dagger indicating the place 


Fig. 8.—Corilla rivolit. 


Fig. 9.—Corilla vivolii, immature, 


where the plates are found. Fig. 9f shows another 
immature specimen, the dagger here also indicating 
the position of the plates; but while in the former 
specimen they are placed at the end of the fourth 
whorl, they are here found at a place where only 
three and-a-half whorls have been completed. 
Lt.-Col. H. H. Godwin Austen, in a letter, 
confirms my surmise as to the temporary character 
of these plates, stating that those found in the old 
shells differ very much from what those found in 


the young might be supposed to develop into. He 
thinks that the early folds are absorbed to make 
way for subsequent ones. As will be seen from the 
consideration of Covilla odontophova further on, 
however, this is not always the case, since in one 
mature specimen I have found the immature 
palatal folds still existing. 

Corilla odontophora does not seem to be well 
understood, and the figure given in Tryon’s 
‘Manual of Conchology”’ (2), iii., t. 33, f. 34, 
copied from Hanley and Theobald’s ‘‘ Conchologia 
Indica,’’ t. 57, f. 6, is somewhat misleading, as it 
evidently represents an immature specimen, show- 
ing the palatal folds as they appear from the 
aperture, but no reference is made to this fact. 
Mr. Ponsonby having in his possession two mature 
specimens, which he doubtfully referred to this 
species, kindly permitted me to open one, which is 
shown in figs. toa—i1oe. On reference to fig. 10d it 


Fig. 10.—Corilla odontophora. 


will be seen that only two parietal folds are 
present, corresponding to Nos. 2 and 3 in the 
previous species. Fig. toc exhibits the plates as seen 
from behind their inner terminations, and it will be 
observed that there are four palatal folds, the 
upper three of which are shown through the wall 
of the shell in figs. rod and roe, while fig. toa shows 
the entire shell from below (restored), with plates 
Nos. 3 and 4 showing through. On comparison 
with the figures of Corilla erronea and Corilla fryae, 
it is seen that in Corilla odontophova the palatal 
folds are much shorter and less flexuous than in 
the two former, and, as correctly stated by Benson 
in describing this species (‘‘ Annals and Magazine of 
Natural History ”’ (7), xvi, 1865, p. 175), they ‘‘ are 
entirely visible from the aperture.” Another point 
to be noted is that the outer terminations (/.c. nearest 
the aperture) of the upper three palatal folds form 
an oblique line parallel with the peristome, the first 
one being nearest the aperture, while in Corilla 


Ea 


92 


evvonea and Corilla fryae they form a semicircle, the 
second fold being nearest the aperture. The shell 
of Coyvilla odontophora is more regularly and less 
coarsely ribbed than that of Corilla erronea, and 
larger, although composed of only 4-44 whorls, 
while the other two species have 5 whorls; it 
differs further from Covilla erronea in that the last 
whorl is more deflected in front, more 
tumid, and then suddenly contracted 
behind the peristome, more resem- 
bling Covilla fryae in these respects, as 
also in the presence of a quadrate 
tooth on the basal margin of the 
peristome. Before concluding the 
consideration of this species, I would 
draw attention to fig. toa, in which, 
though the shell is adult, is seen 
the immature form of palatal folds 
immediately behind the callus of the mouth, and, 
as already mentioned, a circumstance which shows 
that the earlier folds are not invariably absorbed 
on the completion of the shell. 

Covilla humberti, also Cingalese, is extremely rare 
in collections. As Benson, in the paper cited above, 
throws some doubt on the correctness of Dr. 
Brot’s figure of this species in the ‘Journal de 
Conchyliologie,”’ xii., 1864, t. 2, f. 6, I was pleased 
to be able to give a new figure of it, and lamina 


MANGANESE ORES 


Fig. 11.—Covilla humberti. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


position to confirm Benson’s conjecture that the 
original figure is slightly misleading, as the basal 
palatal fold appears to be joined to the suture 
owing to the position in which the specimen was 
placed, but on tilting the shell from the left side 
the fold is plainly seen to be unconnected with the 
suture, and it is thus shown in my fig. 11; this fold 
corresponds in position with No. 4 of 
the other species, while the parietal 
fold corresponds with No. 2 of the 
others. The specimen having been 
completely cut in half through the 
median plane, a close examination 
of the parietal fold reveals a slight 
fracture, and the inference forces 
itself upon my mind that, probably, 
in the process of cutting, it was 
partly cut away, and that it reached 
further back than it now appears. This form 
differs from the species already considered in 
having only one palatal and one parietal fold; 
it is also decidedly more rounded in outline, but 
like Covilla odontophora and Corilla fryae, it has a 
quadrate, but less elongate, tooth on the basal 
margin of the peristome. 

The other species of Corilla will be considered in 
a future communication. 


(To be continued.) 


IN NORTH WALES. 


By N. E. McINTIRE. 


i ey the western part of Merioneth, the district of 

Ardudwy, beds of dialogite and peroxide of 
manganese have been occasionally worked during 
the last ten years. There are two interesting 
features about these deposits, viz.: the occurrence 
(comparatively rare, if we except the coal measures) 
of a strictly comtemporaneous interbedded mineral 
seam, and the chemical changes which have taken 
place along the outcrop and to a certain extent 
along the upper and lower bounding planes of the 
stratum. 

Attention was shortly drawn to these facts by 
Mr. J. G. Goodchild in a paper on ‘‘ Mineral 
Veins,” read before the Geologists’ Association in 
1888, and in the ‘‘ Geological Magazine” for January, 
1887, there is an abstract of another paper on the 
subject, presented to the British Association by 
Dr. C. Le Neve Foster. Since these appeared, 
several openings have been made for mining 
purposes, and a few notes may be interesting. 

The district of Ardudwy is covered 
Cambrian rocks, known as the Harlech 
and Barmouth sandstones, which consist 
great thickness of conglomerates, grits and 


with 
grits 
of a 
slaty 


beds, the last being of most frequent occurrence 
in the upper part of the series; their general dip 
is easterly, but the strata have been thrown into 
great rolls with usually a north to south axis. 
The hills of Diphws, Llethr and the Rhinogs, from 
2,000 to 2,500 feet high, are composed of these rocks, 
which stretch eastward to the gold-bearing beds 
of the Tingula fags on the Mawddach. It is 
probable, though not proved, that most of the 
workings are along different outcrops of the same 
seam; but the ore is certainly found on other 
horizons, and a manganese.staining of the beds is 
fairly common. It is chiefly in the valley of the 
little river Artro and its tributaries which drain 
the west slope of the Rhinog range that the mines 
have been worked. The outcrops range, as might 
be expected, from the dip, in a north and south line. 
In many places merely shallow trenches have been 
opened along the outcrop, and in the distance the 
excavations look like the course of a small railway 
traversing the hill-sides. One outcrop has been 
worked in an almost straight line for two miles 
north from the new church at Barmouth. In 
ascending Nant Col from the village of Llanbedr, 


- 
o 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 93 


two outcrops of the same bed are crossed, and in 
one there, at the head of the valley near ‘‘ the 
Pass of the Men of Ardudwy,” is a large mine, 
with tramways and inclined planes laid down, but 
at present unworked; here the seam has been 
mined in places some way into the hill. In the 
valley of the Artro, itself about two miles 
from Lianbedr, the strata are horizontal, and 
the bed just below the surface has been eaten 
into with a network of tunnels and connecting 
galleries. 

In many places the bed seems extremely impure, 
and beyond removing the surface-drift no attempt 
has been made to mine it. The deposit varies 
from a manganese-coloured slate to an almost 
white distinctly stratified ore, consisting of carbo- 
nate of manganese, with some twenty per cent. of 
siliceous matter. In one of the workings a bed of 
quartz grit occurs with a cement of oxide of 
manganese. Four feet is about the maximum 
thickness of the seam, and two and a half the 
average. It is well defined from the beds above 
and below; in most cases the change from an 
ordinary slate to the ore is quite abrupt. 

On examining the ore as it lies about the work- 
ings (for no quarrying was in progress during my 
visits in 1894 and 1895) one sees two varieties—a 
grey rock, often very siliceous, consisting mainly 
of the carbonate, and a soft pliable black form, the 
hydrated oxide. The faces of the headings are all 
stained a dull violet, and the same tint is characte- 
ristic of the broken masses at the quarry mouth. 
The black variety is only found along the outcrop 
where the bed has been penetrated by fissures and 
cracks, along which it eats its way into the grey 
ore, forming a box-like covering to kernels of 
unaltered ore, the line of demarcation being per- 
fectly sharp. 

I was favoured by Mr. J. Abraham, of the 
Barmouth mine, with analyses of the two varieties 
by Messrs. Patterson and Stead, the leading points 
of which I produce. 

Dried at 212 degrees. 


Black. White. 

Peroxide of manganese - - 34°48 — 
Protoxide of manganese - - 11°83 29°48 
Peroxide of iron - - ALO 2EoiT 
Protoxide of iron - - 4) 1°03 
Alumina - - : - -. 3°06 2°39 
Lime - - - - - 2-07 4°53 
Siliceous matter (see below) - 38-00 34°95 
Magnesia - - : - = Copshe 0°64 
Carbonic acid - - - == i40 23°00 
Combined water E - - 4°60 1°35 
Sulphur - = - - - “08 “08 
Phosphoric acid - = =. (rien o-10 
I100°02 99°76 


This gives metallic manganese - 35 °/, 28°60°/, 


The siliceous matter when further examined gave: 
Dried at 212 degrees. 


Black. White. 
Silica - - - - = 2225 19°40 
Alumina - - - - - 8:25 5°85 
Protoxide of manganese - = 5r2r 7°44 
Peroxide of iron - - aN ari 1°45 
Lime - - - - - = 0:62 0°56 
Magnesia - - - - = O;20 o'21 


These analyses show what seems evident from 
the examination in the field, that the black ore 
is a product of alteration of the grey ore due 
to weathering. The grey ore contains in its 
ordinary state a certain amount of silicate as well 
as carbonate of manganese ; it is, as Mr. Goodchild 
says, an impure mixture of dialogite and rhodonite. 
The alteration along the outcrop seems to me to 
exactly resemble the change which has occurred in 
the ironstone beds of the Northampton Sands. If 
one reads the account of these changes, in the 
**Geol. Survey Memoir,” for example (‘‘ The 
Jurassic Rocks of Britain,’ vol. iv., p. 494), the 
explanation given there would exactly describe the 
changes in these Welsh ores, reading the word 
manganese foriron. The figure given of the brown 
ore, enclosing unaltered portions of carbonate, com- 
pletely represents what is usually to be seen in 
these manganese mines. 

I might add that the change seems to result in a 
diminution of bulk, so that more opening is given 
for the infiltration of surface waters. 

It would be interesting to know whence came 
these large deposits of manganese. The black 
oxide is widely disseminated through all the 
stratified rocks, and I recently found a lenticular 
mass, some inches thick, in a Pleistocene flint 
gravel, resting on the chalk; deep-sea soundings 
also prove its presence in the ocean depths. The 
Cambrian beds, in which the ore is found, are them- 
selves derived from the denudation of previously 
existing beds, about which we know so little. 

The mines seem to be only worked at intervals, 
as the price of the ore permits. If 25s. per ton 
‘“placed on the rails,” allows a profit to some 
favourably-situated mine, there must be others in 
the remote glens of Ardudwy, when this would be 
balanced by the cost of transit for several miles 
along mere cart tracks. 

The iron-works of North Wales, when it is used 
in the manufacture of ferro-manganese, seem to be 
the usual destination of the ore. 

Harpenden, Herts ; July. 1896. 


SCIENCE AT NOTTINGHAM.—We have received 
the third supplement to No. 3 Class List (Science) 
of the Borough of Nottingham Free Public 
Reference Library. It is made up to April last. 
There are many additions since the last catalogue 
was issued. 


E 4 


94 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


By THE Rev. W. H. PurcHas. 


(Continued from page 72.) 


THE ALDER. 
HE Alder (Alnus glutinosa, Gaertn.) is a tree of 
moderate dimensions, often little more than a 
bush, but in situations where the soil is tolerably 
good, or when growing on river banks or in marshes, 
it will attain a height of sixty feet and upwards. 


The angle at which the branches leave the trunk 
is less than forty-five degrees, but they soon become 
horizontal or deflexed by reason of their own 
weight. In the ultimate sprays the smallness of 
the angle which they make with each other is very 
manifest. The length of the internode in vigorous, 


RK NS 


ALDER (Alnus glutinosa). 
a, Embryo pistillate catkins; 6, Embryo stamminate catkins. 


The leaf-arrangement is commonly such that the 
cycle consists of three leaves, the fourth leaf 
standing vertically over the first, the fifth over the 
second, and so on. Thus the divergence of each 
leaf from the next (as viewed from the centre of 
the stem) 
whence it follows that the branches which arise 
from the axillary buds will stand more uniformly 
around the stem or shoot than in the elm or lime, 
where they are two-ranked. 


is one-third of the circumference, © 


leafy shoots is some two inches or more, but in the 
small flowering sprays it is only from one-eighth 
to five-eighths of an inch. 

The group of catkins which constitutes the 
inflorescence is terminal. The staminate and 
pistillate flowers are borne in separate catkins. 
The staminate or male catkins _are arranged ina 
raceme or small panicle, springing from the point 
itself of the branchlet, the pistillate or female 
catkins, which are smaller and fewer in number, are 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


grouped in a raceme which arises from the axil of 
the uppermost leaf; they are thus below, but in 
close proximity to the staminate catkins. In the 
autumn of each year we may find on the same 
branchlet pistillate catkins belonging to three 
successive seasons, Thus, on a branchlet examined, 
say, in September of the present year, 1896, we 
shall find, first, the dead woody remains of the 
catkins originally formed in 1894, which reached 
the flowering stage in 1895, but which did not 
mature and shed their seed until the winter of 
1895-6. Second, those formed in the autumn of 
1895, now green and plump, but which will not 
have matured their seed until late in the coming 
autumn or winter. Third, those which, together 
with the staminate catkins, are as yet in the 
embryo stage, and are to attain the flowering 
condition in the spring of 1897. 

As in the case of maple and sycamore, the 
tendency to flower is first manifested by the small 
lateral branchlets, but it eventually affects the 
leading shoot also and, of course, prevents further 
lengthening of the shoot in the original direction. 
The diameter of the young yearly shoots of the 
alder is moderate, being about three-sixteenths of 
an inch. 

There is a peculiarity about the axillary buds of 
the alder which is not, so far as I know, shared by 


Je (UL at OX 


B5 


any other British tree. Instead of being closely 
seated in the axil of a leaf, as in most trees, the 
bud is seated on a footstalk of one or more short 
internodes, and thus, as Schleiden pointed out, 
it has rather the character of a terminal than of 
an axillary bud. 

In its main features the alder may be described 
as a tree of small or moderate size, with an upright 
trunk which preserves its distinctness nearly to 
the top of the tree, and gives off, even from its 
lower portion, strong diverging limbs, which in 
their turn put forth secondary branches, all of 
which, including the main limbs, terminate 
eventually in bushy masses of stiff, ascending, 
flowering sprays, but which have an irregular 
appearance, and in consequence of their alternate, 
instead of opposite, arrangement, and of the closer 
angle they make with each other, exhibit a very 
different appearance from the compact growth and 
even outline of the sycamore. 

The leaves of the alder are somewhat small as to 
size, and their stiff footstalks keep them apart 
from each other, so that they do not overlap or 
present a continuous surface to receive the light ; 
thus, although much broken up, the general aspect 
of the tree does not show any great variety of light 
and shadow. 


(To be continued.) 


TORGG I iv AUNT Se: 


By JoHn C. WEBB, F.E.S. 


ES all probability the number of people who can 
truthfully claim to be unacquainted with the 
common flea is extremely limited. Most indivi- 
duals know it only too well, especially those who 
have the misfortune to travel on railways, and 
these can testify as to its bloodthirsty nature, the 
skilful manner in which it comes to the 
attack, as wellas the agility with which 
it evades capture. Notwithstanding 
all this, it is very rare to find anyone 
outside the ranks of entomologists who 
knows anything of the life-history of 
the flea. Most persons that I have 
met with are under the impression that 
the fleas are born very small and 
gradually grow larger, thus mistaking 
the male, which is smaller than the 
female, for the young insect, and the 
female for the one which has reached maturity. 

It may not be uninteresting to some of the 
readers of this journal, therefore, if I give a brief 
description of the life-history of this terrible 
parasite, as verified by my own personal observa- 
tions. The mature flea has already been so well 
described by more eminent entomologists than 


fg 4. 


Fig. 1, Egg of Flea. 
Fig. 2, Larva of Flea 
(Pulex ivvttans). 


myself, that I cannot do better than repeat their 
description. It is of a dark brown hue, and oval 
shape, with small roundish head, having eyes on 
either side, and furnished with formidable mouth 
organs, consisting of the lancets, etc., which 
it uses so effectively in wounding its victim, 
and two four-jointed antenne. The 
thorax is composed of three segments, 
each consisting of an upper and lower 
piece, and from the latter arise the six 
legs which are so admirably formed 
for leaping. The first joint of the leg 
or coxa is rather thick, then follow the 
trochanter, the fermin, the tiba, and 
lastly the five-jointed tarsus which 
terminates in two curved claws. The 
abdomen consists of nine rings, the 
last of which contains the pygidium, 
so frequently used by the older microscopists as a 
test object for a good half-inch objective, and 
respecting which there has been much dispute in 
days gone by. As already stated the male is con- 
siderably smaller than the female, from which it 
may readily be distinguished. 

After pairing has taken place, the female deposits 


Fig 2. 


96 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


her eggs, which vary from six to eight in number, 
in some convenient crevice or corner. These hatch 
out in the space of eight to fourteen days, according 
to the season of the year, and an exceedingly 
minute larva emerge from such. These are of a 
white colour with scaly heads furnished with two 
small antennz but no eyes, so far as I have been able 
to trace. Their body consists of thirteen segments 
terminating in two small hooks. They attain their 
full growth in about twelve days, and then change 
into chrysalides, from whence they emerge perfect 
fleas in the course of another twelve days. 


The above facts can readily be verified by any 
microscopist who will take the trouble to capture 
a pair of the mature insects, and confine them in a 
test-tube with some cotton-wool, and providing the 
necessary food during the experiment. The tube 
should be covered with a piece of silk or fine 
muslin and not with a cork, as the latter prevents 
a proper admission of air. 

The accompanying sketches are from photographs 
taken from life, and will help to make these notes 
more intelligible. 

32, Henslowe Road, Dulwich, S.E. 


THE CHEMISTRY OF PAPER: 
By H. H. Francis HynpMan, B.Sc. 


APER, from whatever source it is prepared, 

consists, fundamentally, of a substance known 

as cellulose. This remarkable material belongs 

to the carbohydrates, so called because they were 

supposed to be compounds of carbon with water ; 
sugar and starch belonging to the same class. 

Cellulose is the framework of plant-tissues. As 
our readers, no doubt, know, plants require for life 
carbonic acid from the air, water and small 
quantities of mineral substances which do not 
affect the present remarks. From the first two of 
these, plants make cellulose, which they want, and 
oxygen, which they excrete. 

Cellulose, however, has also been found in certain 
low forms of animal life, so that its presence or 
absence can no longer be considered in separating 
the two great divisions of the organic world. 

The most superficial observation of papers as 
they are put on the market, shows that they differ 
very considerably in their properties; some are 
tough, and do not become yellow or rotten even 
with long keeping, while others, like that used for 
some of the London and other evening journals, 
do not even wait to be kept to fall to pieces, but 
have been known to do so on the day of issue. 

On looking closer we find that papers can be 
roughly divided into three groups, viz.: papers 
principally made from: Class 1, linen or cotton 
refuse; Class 2, celluloses derived from straw, 
esparto grass or wood; Class 3, mechanical wood- 
pulp. These classes are put in the order of their 
merit, Class 3 being absolutely worthless for any 
paper that is intended to last at all; Class 2 is not 
advisable for books of the slightest value, although, 
unfortunately, many valuable books have been and 
are still printed on this class of paper, in spite of 
wailings from the British Museum authorities and 
others. 

Before considering the causes of the variation 
in the properties of different papers, it will be 
well first to get some idea of the properties of 


the basis of all papers, i.e. cellulose itself. The 
purest cellulose that can be bought is the best 
chemical filtering paper, and for those who are not 
acquainted with this, the best white cotton wool. 
Good linen and cotton fabrics and the papers made 
from scraps of these (Class 1, above) contain very 
little else than cellulose, and that little mostly 
of a mineral nature. 

We will now suppose a few simple experiments, 
using cotton wool or the best unsized paper. 
When this is dipped for a few seconds into a cold 
mixture of sulphuric acid and water, in about the 
proportions of one to three, and is at once 
thoroughly washed, it gives a parchment paper 
of much the same kind as that used for tying down 
pots of preserve. Ifa drop of a solution of iodine 
is put on this it will turn it blue, and it is thus 
found to be of the same nature as starch, which 
also gives this blue colour with iodine. Cold 
strong nitric acid used in the same way as the 
sulphuric gives what is known as toughened 
paper, but which has no particular use. If, 
instead of using these acids singly and cold, we mix 
them and use them warm, there results a most 
remarkable series of compounds. A mixture of 
three parts by weight of sulphuric and one of 
nitric acid at 50° F. gives a substance which is 
known as cellulose hexanitrate, and which is the 
best gun-cotton. This is quite insoluble in a 
mixture of alcohol and ether, though they easily 
dissolve the inferior kind of gun-cotton, consisting 
principally of the pentanitrate. Still lower nitrates 
are obtained by using a warmer and more dilute 
mixture for a shorter time. 

These lower nitrates, when dissolved in alcohol 
and ether, give the solution of collodion, used for 
many purposes, and when they are worked up with 
camphor and other substances; form the many 
useful substances known as celluloid, xylonite, 
etc. A still more curious use is that of spinning 
the collodion into a continuous thread, which, 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 97 


after further treatment, is woven and sold as silk, 
as it resembles the natural article closely and is 
somewhat cheaper. 

Very few plants, except cotton and flax, yield 
simple cellulose ; in most the cellulose is combined 
with oxygen, giving a substance known as oxycellu- 
lose. This forms the principal part of the hard 
tissues in the plants which fall into the Class 2 
above. By far the greater number of plants which 
have any hard parts consist of a still more 
complicated substance, this is a compound of a 
substance known as lignone with oxycellulose, 
which, as shown above, is itself a compound of 
cellulose. This compound is known as lignocellu- 
lose. Jute fibre is the best example of lignocellu- 
lose, as itis more free than ordinary woody fibre 
from other bodies. Jute is the bast of the genus 
Corchorus, belonging to the order Tiliacee; the 
material used by gardeners for tying-up plants is 
another example of bast fibre. 

Lignocellulose has the remarkable property of 
fixing most of the coal-tar colours; in this it 
resembles silk and wool, and differs considerably 
from pure cellulose (cotton), which requires the use 
f some additional substance known as a mordant ; 


alum and tannin are examples of two different 
classes of mordants. To fit woody fibre for use in 
the manufacture of even the cheapest paper, it 
undergoes, as a rule, two processes at least—first 
bleaching, second, boiling in a strong soda solution. 
The first process consists of acting on the pulped 
fibre with solution of bleaching powder, this com- 
bines with some of the noncellulose, i.c. lignone, 
etc., causing it to be soluble in the alkaline solution 
with which it is next treated. This has to be 
repeated if a white pulp is desired. Pulp treated 
in this way is the Class 3 mentioned in the 
beginning of this article. For the wood cellu- 
lose mentioned in Class 2, the lignocellulose 
has to be completely broken up, leaving an 
oxycellulose. This is accomplished by boiling 
in closed vessels, at a temperature above the 
boiling point of water, with strong alkaline (soda) 
solutions. 

We have thus seen how the three classes of 
paper materials mentioned above are obtained. 
As the subsequent processes which convert them 
into paper are mostly mechanical, we will leave 
them as pulp ready for the machines. 

5, Denning Road, Hampstead, N.W. 


SCIENCE ih Ee NA TON AE POR AIO © G ANE Te By RY 


By JoHN T. CARRINGTON. 


(Continued from page 66.) 


Erasmus DaRWIN (1731-1802). 

ps the remarks upon the late Charles Robert 

Darwin (ante p. 2), mention was made of his 
ancestor ies who was 
born at Elston Hall, in 
Nottinghamshire, on Decem- 
ber 12th, 1731. At the age 
of ten years, Erasmus was 
sent to school at Chesterfield, 
and nine years later he was 
entered at St. John’s College, 
Cambridge. In 1754 he 
graduated B.A., and came 
out first of the junior optimes. 
In the autumn of that year 
Erasmus Darwin commenced 
the study of medicine at 
Edinburgh, and in the follow- 
ing year he took his M.B. 
degree at Cambridge. In 1756 
we hear of Erasmus settling 
at Nottingham as a physician 
but, as may be well imagined, on account of his 
youth, he found an absence of patients. In the 
following November he moved to Lichfield, which 
city provided not only patients, but high reputa- 


Erasmus Darwin. 


tion. At Lichfield when he found opportunity, 
Erasmus worked steadily at the study of Botany. 
This pursuit and his profession brought him in 
contact with many well- 
known men of his time. With 
those of his neighbourhood 
he formed a small society for 
general scientific intercourse, 
the meetings being held at 
each others houses, and 
affectionately termed by 
Erasmus, ‘‘our lunar meet- 
ings.” Among the local men 
of the period who formed 
this association, were Watt, 
Wedgewood, the Sewards 
and others. Darwin fully 
held his own place at these 
meetings, being clever and 
an excellent talker, though 
occasionally a bad stammerer. 
His great freedom of thought 
and expression formed enemies as well as friends, 
and among the former was Dr. Johnson, who was as 
cordially hated in return by Darwin, he being 
thorough in this as in all else he undertook. He was 


98 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


twice married, first in 1757, to Miss Mary Howard, 
who died in 1770. Sheseems to have been a woman 
of tact and affection, for they lived very happily 
until her death. His second wife, whom he 
wedded in 1781, was the widow of Colonel Chandos- 
Pole, of Radbourne Hall, whose acquaintance he 
had made during his medical practice, and he is 
said to have been passionately attached to her 
before her husband’s death. His new wife, dis- 
liking town life at Lichfield, they removed to 
Radbourne Hall, thence to Derby, and later to 
Breadsall Priory, where Dr. Erasmus Darwin died 
of heart-disease in 1802, having been in his latter 
years of great bodily size, even to unwieldiness. 
Although irritable of temper to a degree, and 
dictatorial in his manner, Dr. Darwin was sur- 
prisingly beloved by those who knew him intimately. 
As a worker he was insatiable, even having his 
carriage fitted for writing and reading in the 
intervals between his visits to patients. 

Dr. Erasmus Darwin's earliest 
literary work was poetic. His 
first poem, although written in 
his Cambridge undergraduate 
days, appeared in the ‘‘ European 
Magazine” for 1795. A collection 
of his poems was published in 
1807. It is strange to find the 
poems of a man who was by 
no means of an effeminate or 
handsome type, infused with 
eroticisms and to hear of his love 
adventures; for few men have 
shown more vigour, at times 
approaching to roughness. 

Dr. Erasmus Darwin’s chief 
scientific reputation was founded 
on his knowledge of medicine and botany. Ina 
public-spirited manner, rare at the time, he pur- 
chased and laid out as a botanical garden, in 
1778, eight acres of land near Lichfield. His pro- 
fessional reputation extended over the country, 
until George III. invited him to come to London 
as his physician. Dr. Darwin, however, refused. 

The painting of Dr. Erasmus Darwin in the 
National Portrait Gallery is by J. Wright, A.R.A., 
and represents the head and shoulders only. 


OLIVER GOLDSMITH (1728-1774). 


So much has been written about this versatile 
and convivial Irishman, the author of ‘‘ An History 
of the Earth and Animated Nature,” that it seems 
to be only covering too familiar ground to give any 
long account of his life. 

From the point of view of a writer on scientific 
subjects, Oliver Goldsmith based his reputation 
upon his ‘‘ Animated Nature,” for the rest of his 
long list of literary productions are on topics far 
from the dry bones of Science. They cover a great 


OLIVER GOLDSMITH. 


range of subjects, from political economy through 
history to fiction, the drama and poetry. Many 
are the stories about his talent, indiscretions, 
poverty and conviviality. 

Oliver Goldsmith was second son and fifth child 
of Charles and Ann Goldsmith. He was born at 
Pallas, near Ballymahon, in co. Longford, on 
November roth, 1728. His father was curate of a 
country church, but perhaps most occupied in 
cultivating the glebe farm, until he became rector 
of Kilkenny West, two years after Oliver was born. 

Oliver, like many another brilliant man, was 
considered in his childhood to be densely stupid, 
though he early showed indications of clever 
versification. After a desultory course of some- 
what varied schools, on account of his father’s 
straitened circumstances, Oliver was sent to 
Trinity College, Dublin. There he did little good, 
and after leaving entered upon one of the most 
remarkable careers on record; always in poverty, 

ever merry and full of Bohemian 
adventure. Unfortunately it is 
well-nigh impossible to separate 
_ the ficticious from the true history 
of his life, for few people have 
more delighted to astonish their 
friends with travellers’ tales than 
Oliver Goldsmith. One fact seems 
to be established, viz., that he did 
much of his wanderings on foot, 
without money, but with merry 
song, story, or his flute to en- 
courage hospitality. He said he 
travelled through Europe, from 
Holland to Italy and back, but 
where he really went will never 
be known, for Goldsmith’s love of 
fiction in time perverted even his own memory. 

Suffice it to say that Goldsmith’s literary 
remains are among the most delightful of the 
English classics. Some will live for ever, such 
as the ‘‘ Vicar of Wakefield,” ‘‘ The Deserted 
Village,’ ‘‘She Stoops to Conquer’’; not forget- 
ing the story of ‘‘Little Goody Two-Shoes.’’ His 
‘‘Animated Nature’? was published after his 
death, which occurred on April 4th, 1774. 

The picture in the National Portrait Gallery isa 
copy of one by Reynolds, but the best likeness is 
said to be at Knole Park, near Sevenoaks, in Kent. 

As an incentive to many people to take an 
interest in natural history, ‘‘Animated Nature”’ 
doubtless fulfilled its mission a century ago. It 
was never a scientific work, and was probably a 
compilation when the author had become a 
literary hack in sore need of the money doled out 
for its production. It was, however, considered a 
remarkable work in its time, but is now relegated 
to an upper shelf, where it still remains in a 


modern library. (To be continued.) 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 99 


SATURN'S RING SYSTEM... 


By FRANK C. DENNETT. 


HIS wonderful object, as seen through a good 
instrument, is perhaps the most beautiful in 

the heavens. Ever since its discovery, it has 
proved itself to be a grand puzzle to those who 
have studied it. The outside diameter of these 
rings reaches about 170,000 miles, and the inner 
diameter of the bright ring about 106,000 miles. 
Notwithstanding this immense area the total thick- 
ness is probably not over about 100 miles. The 
first problem to consider is how can the rings be 
stable? Kepler’s laws show that it is necessary 
for the inner portion to travel much faster ‘around 
the planet than the outer portions. This demon- 


rings which tend to prove this contention. Some- 
times the principal, or Ball’s, division appears 
hard and sharp, and black, whilst at others, not- 
withstanding beautiful definition, the edges of this 
division refuse to appear hard, and at times are 
even jagged—vide Trouvelot’s observations, very 
specially, December 30th, 1874—and the division 
itself has frequently been observed by many 
observers, including the writer, to be very far from 
black. Usually a large instrument brings out the 
Encke division of the outer ring about three-fifths 
from its inner edge, sometimes as a black division 
and at others only as a pencil-line. Often, how- 


SATURN’S RINGS. 


strates that it is quite impossible for the ring to be 
a solid continuous surface. 

Perhaps some reader points out the fact that the 
rings are not continuous, but that divisions separate 
the surface into concentric rings. The problem, 
however, is not ended here, because as early as 
1821 Kunowsky noticed that the rings, though so 
close together, were not in absolutely the same 
plane, and Coolidge, Secchi and others have made 
similar observations. But this is not all. The 
ball is not placed in the centre of the rings, but a 
little on one side, making the eastern, or /, ansa 
a little the largest. The consequence of this 
eccentricity would be to make the different parts 
of the same ring travel at different rates, faster on 
the western, slower on the eastern side of the ball. 
These considerations render untenable any idea 
of the ring being solid. 


Variations are constantly being noted in the 


ever, it is only visible on one side of the planet, 
whilst at times it seems to be quite invisible. 
Again, it seems sometimes to slightly vary its 
position on the ring, whilst occasionally it has been 
seen accompanied by two or three other divisions 
on the same ring. M. L. Trouvelot has sometimes 
seen the outer ring apparently partially broken into 
fragments at the ends of the ansa, and very 
occasionally this has been confirmed by other 
observers. 

M. E. Antoniadi, of Juvisy, on April 18th, 1896, 
made a most interesting observation of Saturn. 
His beautiful drawing is here reproduced from the 
‘¢ Bulletin de la Société Astronomique de France ”’ 
for May, and which has kindly been forwarded by 
the observer. Here, not only are the mottlings of 
the outer ring visible, but the divisions are absent, 
whilst the middle bright ring has three divisions 
which are very rarely seen. It appears that the 


100 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


brighter portion of the rings has slightly increased 
in width since the latter part of last century. 

Again, it is very hard to believe that the inner 
dark ring, usually known as the “ crape veil,’ has 
not become far brighter during the present 
century. In 1880 the writer could not possibly 
have overlooked it with a 43-in. silver-on-glass 
Newtonian. But early in the century Sir J. 
Herschel and Schroeter were studying the planet 
with mirrors more than four times that aperture, and 
overlooked it altogether. That it was in existence 
is well known, for in 1715 the younger Cassina saw 
it where it crossed the planet. But it was not until 
1838 that Dr. Galle, of Berlin, saw something of it, 
and not until the autumn of 1850 that Bond and 
Tutile, in America, and W. R. Dawes, in England, 
discovered its true character. These things added 
to the laws of motion seem to definitely point out 
the fact that the rings, so far from being solid, are 
really composed of a multitude of little bodies 
travelling around the planet. Long ago the 
younger Cassini suggested something of this sort, 
and now in later times Professor J. Clark Maxwell 
and R. A. Proctor have advocated the same 
explanation. 

The spectroscope is a marvellous instrument for 
answering difficult questions, and in 1895 Professor 
Keeler, of the Alleghany Observatory, applied it to 
the study of the rings of Saturn, It has long been 
known that if a star were approaching the observer 
the dark lines in its spectrum were displaced 
towards the violet, whilst if the source of light 
were receding the displacement was towards the 
red. More than that, the amount of the displace- 
ment varied according to the rate of such motion. 
The application of this method of research to the 
rings of Saturn shows that the inner portion of 
the ring of the eastern or following ansa at 
its broadest part is travelling towards us at a 
certain rate, the outer portion of the ring is also 
approaching us at acertain rate. In the opposite 
ansa the motion is of course from the observer. 
Were the bright rings a solid plane the motion of 
the outer edge would exceed that of the inner 
almost as 5:3, so that if the slit of the spectroscope 
were laid along the equatorial diameter of the 
planet and rings, the inner edge on the / side would 
displace the lines towards the violet, and the dis- 
placement would be increased to the outer edge. 
But what are the facts? The displacement is 
greatest at the inner edge, proving that the motion 
is there greater than at the outer edge. Thus for 
ever the idea of solidity is disposed of, and it may 
be taken as, to all intents, proved that the rings 
are really composed of a multitude of tiny bodies 
pursuing their course around the planet. It must 
be conceded that our knowledge of Saturn and his 
system has been definitely advanced. 

60, Lenthall Road, London, N.E.; August, 1896. 


SUBDIVISION OF CLOSTERIUM 
LUNULA. 
By H. E. GRIsET. 


i ea addition to the true conjugation of those 

beautiful unicellular alge, the Desmidiacez, 
by the mutual action of two individual fronds and 
the resulting sporangium, there is the vegetative 
multiplication by duplicative subdivision which 
continually takes place throughout the warmer 
months of the year in the mature cells or fronds. 
In this state they appear from time to time on the 
slide under the microscope, and it is generally 
conducted with great rapidity. This seems to 
vary according to the temperature, as may be seen 
from the following notes, which may, perhaps, be 
useful to those who have not been fortunate enough 
to have witnessed this curious and instructive 
phenomenon. 

The sub-lunate fronds of Closterium lunula, when 
about to undergo this transverse subdivision, ex- 
hibit at first an infolding of the walls of the cell 
at the middle. This constriction continues to 
increase until the primary frond is completely 
divided into two similar halves, which takes 
several hours. They generally become detached 
by a jerking of one of the new cells—the active one, 
(fig. 1, a), while the other remains passive (B); or 
they continue to slowly swing from side to side. 
The half-fronds are horn-shaped and rounded at 
the newly-divided end, near where the green 
endochrome at this time presents a deep con- 
striction, and the internal movemenis of the parietal 
protoplasm will be seen to be very active, present- 
ing numerous little shadowy waves, which carry the 
round particles along with them; some of these 
ultimately become enclosed in the vacuole which 
has in the meanwhile been formed in the rounded 
end of the cell; one of the new cells did not form 
this vacuole until fifteen minutes after the other 
(the passive one), the protoplasmic currents simply 
proceeding round the end, which had previously 
been the case with the other cell. 

Fifteen minutes after the perfect division of the 
frond (as seen in fig. 1) the new cells were elongat- 
ing and tapering at the extremities, the rounded 
ends having become decidedly pointed and the 
active frond had formed the vacuole at its new end; 
the constriction of the endochrome was greatly 
augmented, the vacuole of the passive cell still 
contained two and that of the active cell one 
granule (fig. 2). 

Twenty minutes from the perfect division, or 
five minutes later than the preceding, the cells 
continued to lengthen and the vacuoles of the 
passive and active fronds contained three and two 
granules, respectively (fig. 3). Thirty minutes 
after the perfect division the extremities of the 
new fronds were almost equal in shape, the 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


endochrome had become quite divided in the 
centre and the vacuoles of the new ends contained 
three granules in each; until now the active frond 
had continued to slowly swing from and towards 
the passive one (fig. 4). 

At fifty minutes from the division of the cell the 
ends were about equal; the vacuole of the passive 
frond contained five granules, and that of the active 
one three. The latter now had quite ceased to 
swing from and towards the other ; it had, in fact, 
become passive (fig. 5). 

Sixty minutes after the complete division, both 
the new cells had lengthened and curved, so that 
they closely resembled the normal fronds in form, 
except being a little more slender perhaps (fig. 6). 
When this alga is actively dividing, several pairs 
may sometimes be seen on the same slide which 


Io! 


a film of the Clostevium-bearing detritus, and exam- 
ining this under a one-inch objective will not fail 
to show some fronds'in this state after a few repeti- 
tions of the examination at the proper season. 
Closterium lunula is exceedingly common in the large 
lake in Beech Park, near Hadley, along with C. 
acevosum, C. lineatum, etc., and many beautiful 
diatoms. 

The membrane of the Closteria is more or less 
horny and often brownish, especially in the old 
fronds, and is either smooth or marked with longi- 
tudinal striz, as in C. strialatum ; this species was 
very abundant in a little pond (or rather, puddle) 
on Hampstead Heath, known locally as the Duck 
Pond, and also in the Viaduct Pond in the same 


locality. 
3, Cathcart Hill, London, N.; July, 1896. 


al 


7 


fs— 


& 


> 


SUBDIVISION OF CLOSTERIUM LUNULA. 


Fig. 1.—A frond just dividing x 350. A, active, and B, passive cells. 
Figs. 2-5.—Later stages of same ™ 200. 
Fig. 6.—Two perfect fronds x too. 


have just completed this metamorphosis. The 
temperature at the time of this observation was 
about 16° C. 

The vacuoles at the apices of the cells constantly 
alter their places in the hyaline motile protoplasm, 
and contain watery contents in which the minute 
corpuscles rotate. The way they enter the vacuole 
is very curious: at first they are seen to ap- 
proach it and then are passed through its side, in 
the same way as the ‘‘sarcode’’ of the Amceba 
encompasses a food particle. 

But of 321 fronds of Clostevium lunula examined in 
October, 1895, there were only seven undergoing 
this change, and when we consider that it requires 
only a few hours to complete this division, after 
which the fronds remain several days, or even 
weeks, before they again subdivide, it is not sur- 
prising that they are not more frequently observed 
in this state. By having a large slide covered with 


Sunpay Science Lectures.—The Select Com- 
mittee of the House of Lords appointed to consider 
the expediency of amending the Lord's Day Act of 
1781, has issued its report. This old Act enables 
anyone to prosecute the promoters of Sunday 
recreation, no matter how innocent, if conducted 
at a profit to any person or body corporate. After 
examining a mass of evidence their lordships point 
out that the Act of 1875 (38 and 39 Vict. c. 80) 
makes private prosecution improbable, as the 
Crown has power to remit penalties and to quash 
frivolous or vexatious prosecutions. Their lordships 
think that, while the phraseology of the earlier Act 
is now out of date, and its alteration, if practicable, 
would be advantageous, the existing law. as laid 
down in the two statutes, 21 Geo. III., c. 49, and the 
Remission of Penalties Act, meets the sentiments of 
the English people, and that any material change in 
its general provisions might not be for public good. 


102 


DHE, BRIGGS CORLECHION: 


lee is seldom that such a fine collection of Natural- 
history objects is dispersed by an auctioneer as 
that to be sold by Mr. Stevens, at Covent 
Garden, this autumn, and formed by Mr. Chas. A. 
Briggs. It consists entirely of British lepidoptera, 
as its present owner retains his further collections 
for continued scientific study in other directions. 

The sale will occupy four days and part of a 
fifth. The dates are October 27th and 28th, 
November 24th and 25th, and upwards of one 
hundred lots, consisting of Eurodea, Crambide, 
plume moths and duplicates, will be sold on the 
roth of November. Of course, it is always difficult 
to estimate in advance the probable amount which 
such a collection will realize, but we may imagine, 
when judged by recent sales, it will reach the total 
of athousand pounds. The lotting has been most 
carefully arranged by Mr. Janson, jun., under 
the supervision of Mr. Briggs himself, and the 
catalogue will contain a full account of the more 
important. The first day’s sale, October 27th, 
will commence with lots 1 to 323, and they will 
probably attract most attention, for they are 
of butterflies, with eight lots of the large- 
copper butterfly (Lycena dispar). There will be 
another eight lots of this species on each day. 
The further lots are 348 to 535, containing the 
Sphinges and Bombyces; 536 to 557, Pseudo- 
bombyces; 558 to 715, Noctue; 716 to gor, 
Geometre; 902 to 923, larger Pyrales, with the 
others mentioned for November roth. 

It will be readily understood that it would not be 
possible to give anything like a detailed description 
of such a large collection in these pages, but 
the following are some of the more remarkable 
specimens. The blue and copper butterflies, which 
will be in the first day’s sale, will probably attract 
most visitors on account of the large number and 
range of the varieties. Among the species are 
thirty-two large coppers, and twenty-one of the 
scarce blue Polyommatus semiargus (acis), and twenty 
lots of Lycena phieas, with many beautiful varieties, 
and an almost unique collection of varieties of 
undersides of the blue butterflies. Other butter- 
flies of exceptional beauty or rarity are fourteen 
Argynnis latona, A. miobe, var. evis, captured by 
Gerrard in the New Forest, and referred to in the 
«‘Entomologist”’ of June, this year. Mr. Briggs 
obtained this specimer from the Rev. Windsor 
Hamborough. Very fine varieties of the smaller 
fritillaries Melitea auvina (artemis) and M. athalia ; 
also of Argynnis selene and A. euphrosyne, also of 
A.aglia. There are forty-four specimens of the 
meadow-brown butterfly (Epinephele ianiva), with 
the colourless splashes on the wings, so well-known 
to entomologists. There are also many varieties 
of Vanessa io, V. atalanta, V. urtice, V. c-album, 
Limenitis sibylla, Melanargia galatea, Epinephele 
tithonus, E. hypevanthes, Cenonympha typhon and 
C. pamphilus, also of Syvichthus malve (alveolus), and 
many others. 

The hermaphrodite and gynandromorphus speci- 
mens include the species Gonopteryx rhamni, Euchloé 
cavdamines, Polyommatus bellargus (adonis), P. egon, 
P. astvarche (agestis), P. icarus (alexis), P. argiolus, 
and P.corvydon. Specimens of the following blue 
butterflies show exchange of colours on the sexes: 
P. bellavgus and P. corydon, females, more or less 
showing male colour; a female P. bellargus as 
bright blue as a male, and a male specimen looking 
dark asa female. Less remarkable, but exception- 
ally fine specimens of varieties occur in the series 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


of Papilio machaon, Pieris brassicae, P. vapa, P. napt, 
Colias edusa, and indeed in nearly every other 
species. 

There are also many extraordinary forms among 
the moths, such as a black privit-hawk moth, and 
some splendid tiger moths. One of these latter is 
the companion variety of Avrctia caia (figured in 
the ‘‘Entomologist,” vol. xxi., p. 73), rather 
better than that which was sold at the late Mr. 
Vaughan’s sale for £15 15s. These were bred by 
Mr. C. H. Longley. Fine varieties also occur in 
the series of Spilosoma lubricipeda, S. menthastyvi, 
S. urtice, and Odonestis potatovia. The burnet 
oe are simply splendid, and make thirty-four 
ots. 

Of rare moths, the list would be too long to 
insert. We may mention, however, a series of 
fourteen Deiopera pulchella, six Lasiocampa ilicifolia 
from the Standish collection, and a couple of 
Killarney Notodonta bicolor. 

The collection will be on view at Mr. Stevens’ 
Great Rooms, King Street, Covent Garden, on the 
days previous to, and on the mornings of, the days 
of sale. 5 10S CG. 


THE NEW. PRENA” (CANE RAS 


WV, ESSRS. R. & J. BECK, Limited, the manu- 
facturers of the ‘‘Frena’’ Camera, have 
been devoting much time to designing a form 
of this hand-camera which, while not carrying too 
small a film, should be produced at a cheap price. 
The present ‘‘ Memorandum ”’ size ‘‘ Frena”’ is the 
outcome of this work. The same adjustable form 
of shutter, diaphragms to the lens, the swingback 
and level, the finders, automatic indicator and all 
the advantages of the more expensive ‘“‘ Frena” 
camera have been retained, and the finish and 
workmanship is equal in every way. 

The ‘‘ Memorandum ” size ‘‘ Frena”’ takes pic- 
tures on films 34 inches by 22 inches. Forty films 
are carried in a pack as in the other ‘‘ Frena”’ 
cameras. Although the operation of changing the 
film is effected as before, by turning the handle 
round half a revolution and back, the mechanism 
of the film-changing has been considerably altered. 
It is a noteworthy fact that forty exposed films 
may be taken out of the ‘‘ Frena” and forty new 
films put in, including wrapping up the exposed 
and undoing the new packets of films, in less than 
three minutes. The shutter has different speeds, 
1, ay, ot, py and J, second, and also time exposures. 
For instantaneous exposures the set-off knob is 
pushed in, and for time-exposures the same set-off 
knob is pulled out, opening the lens, and then 
pushed in to close the lens. The swingback is 
obtained by simply tilting the holder in which the 
films are held, untl the bubble of the level in the 
handle is central, whatever the angle of the camera 
may be. This corrects the distortion that may be 
caused by pointing the camera up or down. The 
lens is then stopped down to correct any loss of 
definition that may be caused by the top and 
bottom of the film being out of focus. An indi- 
cator counts the number of exposures. The 
“‘ Memorandum ”’ size ‘‘ Frena’’ weighs only 23 Ibs. 
loaded with forty films. It measures 94inches by 
5 inches by 34 inches. Its small size and weight 
render it specially suitable for maturalists, cyclists, 
mountaineers and ladies. The price is £2 18s. 6d., 
and elaborate instructions for working the instru- 
ment are furnished. We can recommend this 
camera to our readers. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


BRITISH ASSOCIATION AND 
ISLE OF MAN. 


cee the sixty-sixth meeting, which is to be 
held in Liverpool, from September 16th to 

23rd, it has been arranged that there’shall be 
a special scientific excursion to the Isle of Man, 
extending over five days, from Thursday, Sep- 
tember 24th, to Monday, September 28th, inclusive. 

The party will break up into four sections (I. 
Archzologists, II. Geologists, III, Zoologists, and 
IV. Botanists), to be conducted by competent 
leaders over those parts of the island which offer 
special attractions for scientific study. The 
geology of the Island is varied and interesting, 
especially as regards the dynamic alteration of 
the older Palzozoic rocks, the Volcanic series 
and the richly fossiliferous Limestone of the Car- 
boniferous age, and the wide developments of the 
Glacial Deposits; the Prehistoric, Scandinavian 
and other early remains are celebrated; the 
marine fauna and flora are abundant, and the 
presence of the Liverpool Marine Biological 
Station at Port Erin affords facilities for dredging 
expeditions and other biological work. 

The detailed programme for the several sections 
has been arranged by a Committee of the Isle of 
Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society, 
acting along with representatives appointed by the 
Liverpool Executive Committee for the British 
Association meeting; and a special handbook, 
containing a short account of the geology, anti- 
quities, and natural history of the Island, illustrated 
by a geological map and a chart, has been drawn 
up by Mr. P. M. C. Kermode, Mr. G. W. Lamplugh, 
and Professor Herdman. 

The tickets (including the hotel and other 
expenses while travelling in the island, and a copy 
of the handbook) will be three guineas each, and 
must be applied for (the applicant stating at the 
time which section he intends to join) before noon 
on Saturday, September roth, at the Reception 
Room, Liverpool. 

The party leaves Prince’s Landing Stage, Liver- 
pool, on Thursday, September 24th, at 11.30 a.m. 
The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, Limited, 
have most courteously offered to convey the British 
Association party to and from the island, free of 
charge, by one of their best equipped and fastest 
steamers, which will probably make the passage in 
about three and a half hours. 


Section II.—GEOLOoGISTS. 


Leaders: Professor W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., 
and G. W. Lamplugh, F.G.S., of H.M. Geological 
Survey. 

Thursday, 24th.—Reception by H.E. the Lieut.- 
Governor at Government House, etc. Head- 
quarters at Sefton Hotel, Douglas. 

Friday, 25th.—Train at 9.30 a.m. to Castletown, 
arrive 10.7. Walk to Castle Rushen, and then on 
to Stack of Scarlet, and thence to Poyllvaaish (see 
Carboniferous Limestones and Contemporaneous 
Volcanic Series). Meet carriages at Poyllvaaish, 
lunch at George Hotel, Castletown, and drive to 
Langness (see base of Carboniferous Rocks and 
Skiddaw Slates), and then on to railway station 
at Ballasalla. Train or carriage to Douglas. 

Saturday, 26th.—Electric railway at 9.33 a.m. 
to Laxey, and on to Snaefell. (General view of 
island, and Metamorphism of Skiddaw Slates.) 
Meet carriages near the Hut, and drive to Tholt-y- 
Will. Lunch r p.m., drive down the Glen, stopping 


103 


at various points (see Crush-conglomerates of 
Skiddaw Rocks, etc.) on the way to Ramsey. 
Steamer at 6 p.m. back to Douglas. 

Monday, 28th. —Carriage at 9.30 a.m. for Crosby, 
Rockmount (see intrusive dykes in Skiddaws), 
Lhoob-y-Reeast, Peel (see Red Sandstones, etc., 
Lunch at Greg Malin Hotel 1 p.m. (see Peel Castle, 
etc.) Drive to Foxdale (see Lead Mines and 
Granite outcrop), and then on to Douglas. Final 
dinner with the other Sections at Sefton Hotel, 
Douglas. 

Section III.— Zootoatsts, 

Leaders: Professor W. A. Herdman, F.R.S., and 

I. C. Thompson, F.L.S. 


Thursday, 24th. — Reception at Government 
House, etc., as before. Train at 5.10 p.m. for 
Port Erin. Head-quarters at Bellevue Hotel. 


Friday, 25th.—If the weather is suitable, the day 
will be spent in dredging, etc., from a steamer, 
probably to the west of the Isle of Man. If 
dredging is impossible, there is shore-collecting, 
tow-netting in the bay, and work in the Biological 
Station to fall back upon. 

Saturday, 26th.—Train at 10.40 to Castletown 
(arrive at 10.56). See Castle Rushen. Return to 
Port Erin by 12.22 train. Lunch at Bellevue 
Hotel. Take Section I. over Biological Station. 
Walk with Sections I. and IV. to Neolithic Circle 
on Meayll Hill. See Cregneish, Chasms, etc., and 
return to Port Erin. 

Monday, 28th.—If weather is suitable take 
steamer to Ramsey, dredging on the way along the 
east side of island. Lunch at Queen’s Hotel, 
Ramsey, 1 p.m. (Iftime permits join Section I. in 
seeing collection at Masonic Rooms.) Dredge from 
steamer on way back to Douglas. 


Section I[V.—BorTanlisTs. 


Leaders: Professor F. E. Weiss, B.Sc., and Rev. 
S. A. P. Kermode, M.A. 

Thursday, 24th. — Reception at Government 
House, etc., as before. See Mr. Okell’s Garden 
and Collection of Veronicas. Train at 5.10 (with 
III.) to Port Erin. Head-quarters at Bellevue 
Hotel. 

Friday, 25th.—Carriages 9.30; drive by ‘‘ Round 
Table”’ to Peel over the mountains. Lunch (with I.) 
at Creg Malin Hotel. See Castle, etc. Car- 
riages to Foxdale, Malew, and back to Port Erin. 

Saturday, 26th.—Train (or walk by shore) to 
Castletown. See Castle Rushen (with I. and III.) 
Train at 12.22 to Port Erin. Lunch (with I. and 
III.). Visit Biological Station and Port Erin Shore. 
Walk with I. and III. to Neolithic Circle on Meayll 
Hill, then on to Chasms, and back to Port Erin. 
There is good shore collecting at Port Erin, at 
Port St. Mary, and at various intermediate points. 

Monday, 28th.—Train at 9.18 a.m. to Douglas. 
Carriages to Laxey, electric railway to Snaefell. 
Meet carriages near Hut. Drive to Tholt-y-Will. 
Lunch t p.m. Drive down Glen and through 
Curraghs (Marsh Plants) to Ballamooar, Jurby 
(Gardens, Conifers, etc.), back through Curraghs 
to Ballaugh railway station. Train at 5.10 p.m. 
for Douglas. Final dinner and stay night at 
Sefton Hotel, Douglas. 

The Honorary Committee consists of His 
Honour Deemster Gill, J. W. Clinch, Esq., Rev. 
S. N. Harrison, B.A., P. M. C. Kermode, Esq., 
F.S.A.Scot., G. W. Lamplugh, Esq., F.G.S. for the 
Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society. 
Prof. W. A. Herdman, F.R.S., I. C. Thompson, 
Esq., F.L.S., for the Liverpool Executive Com- 
mittee. 


; 


tb 


Pe os 


NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 


The Student's Handbook of British Mosses. By 
H.N. Dixon, M.A., F.L.S., with illustrations, and 
Keys to the Genera and Species by H. G. Jameson, 
M.A., pp. xlvi and 520 royal 8vo, and 60 plates. 
(Eastbourne: V. T. Sumfield, London: John 
Wheldon and Co., 1896). Price 18s. 6d. 
*Bryologists will rejoice at the issue of this fine 
work: botanists who have toyed with mosses have 
now no longer the 
excuse of diffi- 
culty of studying 
the British Moss 
Flora, on account 
of the absence of 
suitable __ litera- 
ture, and begin- 
ners have an : 
excellent guide. = 
Those who de- 
pend on illustra- 
tions for identify- 
ing species will 
find the study of 
mosses made 
easy, for there 
are no less than 
684 figures, some 
containing up to 
eight or ten draw- 
ings, charmingly 
executed by the Zi 
Rev. Mr. Jame- ( 
son. Our Moss 
Flora now enu- 
merates about six 
hundred species, 
many of which 
have lately been 
added. It will 
therefore be seen 
that such a book as this was much wanted for that 
reason, and especially as the larger works now in 
existence on the subject are far more expensive. 
Of the smaller they are either out of date, 
or else, though giving much valuable information, 
do not carry the student far enough as he advances. 
In a _ sixteen-page introduction, Mr. Dixon 
gives a history of mosses under the headings 
“General Characteristics,” ‘‘ Vegetative Organs,” 
‘Reproductive Organs” and ‘Classification and 
Nomenclature.” There is also a full glossary and 
instructions for taking microscopic measurements. 
Mr. Jameson’s Key to the Genera will be found 
indispensable when once mastered. It occupies 
fourteen pages. The descriptions of species are 
lucid, and general information with each most 
useful. The classification is based on Schimper’s 
‘Synopsis Muscorum Europzorum,’’ with such 
additions as are rendered necessary through 
modern knowledge. This has, of course, made 
some changes in arrangement, especially in the 
the separation of the Grimmiaceze from the 


TARANTULA SPIDER. 
(From Warne’s “ Royal Natural History.’ 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Orthotrichacee and their removal to the 
Aplolepidee, and a few such changes in other 
groups. These make no difference in the 
general arrangement now adopted. The changes 
in nomenclature of species are fortunately not 
too many, on which we congratulate the moss-men, 
though no complete synonomy is given where 
changes have been made, reference is made to the 
more familiar names beginners have learned when 
working with other manuals. The localities given 
are general rather than special, excepting in cases 
of rare species, and then the list is as complete as 
possible. One feature of the work is perhaps rather 
dangerous, and that is the number of sub-species 
referred to; we never know where this sub-division 
may end; still Mr. Dixon seems to have done this 
part of his work with care and full criticism. As 
we have said the plates are admirable. The book 
is well printed, though, even at the cost of making 
two volumes, it would have been better to have 
used a little 
stronger paper, 
for this is a work 
which willhaveto 
stand much wear. 


The Collector’s 

Manual of British 

Land and Fresh- 

bie water Shells. By 
Lionel Ernest 
Adams, B.A. 214 

pp. 8vo, second 
edition, with 9 
coloured and 2 

plain plates, also 


other _ illustra- 
tions. (Leeds: 
Taylor Brothers, 
1896.) Price 8s. 
plain; os. 6d. 


coloured plates, 
Postage 5d. net. 
siehvasti, Misr 
Adams’ well- 
known work on 
x our native in- 
land shells has 
goneintoasecond 
edition is most en- 
couraging. This 
is the more grati- 
fying because the author, to bring it abreast with 
the times, has nearly re-written many of the pages. 
As a beginner’s book it is not possible to recom- 
mend a better, but in doing so we would suggest 
that the small extra price should be paid for the 
coloured plates, which are in this edition distinctly 
improved. Asa rule they areall that can be desired 
and reflect much credit on the printer. A repro- 
duced photograph by Mr. J. Wetherall, of the four 
smaller Pisidia, makes an admirable frontispiece to 
the book. Every species is represented by figures 
and descriptions, with particulars of their habits 
and localities; numerous named varieties are also 
noticed, this rather on the principle that those who 
do not like them may leave them. There is also in- 
cluded the Conchological Society’s census of comital 
distribution. The illustrations are by Messrs. 
Gerald W. Adams, Alfred Sich and the author. 
The coloured plates are by Taylor Brothers, of 
Leeds, and are most successfully executed. 
The nomenclature is that of the Conchological 
Society’s latest list. The information contained in 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


the introduction will be found most useful to the 
beginner and quite trustworthy. We believe this 
new edition of Mr. Adams’ work will prove a great 
incentive to people to take up the study of our 
land and freshwater shells. No more interesting 
or handy group can be found for a British natura- 
list to investigate, as there are only about 127 
species to overcome, with their varieties. This is 
rendered easy by aid of this manual, which will 
lead the student on to works of greater pretentions. 


I05 


knowledge in its information, and will long remain 
a book for handy reference on all zoological 
questions. We understand that the publishers 
have arranged to re-issue it in sixpenny parts 
This new issue by no mean injures the value of the 
first edition, being practically the same, only that 
the parts are half the size of those at one shilling, 
and contain one coloured plate instead of two in 
each. Advantage has been taken of the new issue 
to correct several points in the letterpress and 


DEVELOPMENT OF A SEA-URCHIN: FULL-GROWN LARVA. 
(From Warne’s ‘‘ Royal Natural History.’’) 


The Royal Natuval History. Edited by RicHarp 
LyDEKKEeR, B.A., F.R.S. Illustrated by 72 
coloured plates and 1,600 engravings. (London 
and New York: Frederick Warne and Co.) Pub- 
lished in ts. parts. 

This work has reached Part 34, which is the last 
but one of the finest general work on natural 
history published in our language. It has main- 
tained its high standard throughout, the articles 
having been written by recognized experts in their 
several subjects. It is thus fully up to modern 


illustrations, so that it will be really a new edition 
as well as a new series. No matter how much 
inclined a young naturalist may feel to specialise 
his studies and confine himself to one subject, he 
ought to get this work to find out how one group 
of animals is related to and dependent upon the 
others. Part 34 is devoted to a portion of the 
Starfish and Mollusca. We show an illustration 
from the article on ‘‘ Development of Sea-Urchins,”’ 
and also one of a tarantula spider from another 
part of ‘‘ The Royal Natural History.” 


106 


far 


CONTRIBUTED BY G. K. GUDE, F.Z.S. 


ANNALI DEL MuSEo Civico DI STORIA NATURALE 
DI GENOVA (Genoa, 1896. Vols. xxxv. and xxxvi.). 
The whole of the first volume cited is occupied 
by the zoological results of the exploration of the 
Giuba and its affluents (North-east Africa), by 
Captain V. Bottego during the years 1892-93, 
under the auspices of the Italian Geographical 
Society. An elaborate map of the region ex- 
plored forms a frontispiece to this volume. The 
secretary, Signor G. Dalla Vedova, contributes an 
introduction, from which it appears that the 
expedition started from Berber, and the distance 
traversed is estimated at more than 2,900 
kilometers, through a region hitherto unknown to 
Europeans. The following specialists have 
contributed reports on their various respective 
departments. Mr. Oldfield Thomas, on the 
Mammals, Mr. G. A. Boulenger, on the Reptiles 
and Batrachians (with four plates); Signor D. 
Vinciguerra, on the Fishes (with one plate); 
Professor E. Von Martens, on the Land and Fresh- 
water Shells; Dr. H. de Saussure, on the 
Orthoptera; M. A. L. Montandon, on the Platas- 
pidinae; Dr. A. de Carlini, on the Rhynchota ; 
Dr. Emilio Corti, on the Diptera; Dr. Paolo 
Magretti, on the Hymenoptera; Professor Carlo 
Emery, on the Formicidae; Dr. M. Regimbart, on 
Dytiscidae and Gyrinidae; Dr. E. Eppelsheim, on 
the Staphylinidae; Signor E. Brenske, on Melolon- 
thinae and Rutelinae; M. Pic, on Anthicidae; 
Herr J. Faust, on Curculionidae ; Dr. E. Gestro, on 
Coleoptera; Signor F. Silvestri, on Chilopoda and 
Diplopoda. In vol. xxxvi., the voyage of Leonardo 
Fea in Burma still continues to result in important 
contributions to science by the following papers: 
Colydiides and Monotomides (beetles), by M. A. 
Grouville (French text); Languriidae, Evotylidae, 
and Endomychidae (beetles), by Mr. H. S. Gorham 
(English text); supplementary note upon the 
Juloidea (Myriapods), containing description of three 
new species, by Mr. R. J. Pocock, of the British 
Museum (English text); Monommidae, Trixagidae, 
and Eucnemidae (beetles), by M. Ed. Fleutiaux 
(French text); new Termitophila (beetles), and 
Termites, from India, by Herr E. Wasmann 
(German text), with plate. The collections made 
by Dr. Elio Modigliani in the Mentawei Islands 
and Sumatra are reported upon by Signor A. 
Perugia, who treats of the fishes; M. E. Candéze, 
who describes new species of Elatevidae (beetles) 
(French text); Signor R. Gestro, who deals with 
Hispidae (beetles); M.C. Kerremans, who enume- 
rates the Buprestidae (beetles) from Mentawei and 
Sumatra; Mr. M. Jacoby, who describes new 
genera and species of Phytophagous Coleoptera 
from Sumatra (in English); Signor D. Rosa, on 
the Lumbricidae (with plate). Signor Lamberto 
Loria’s voyage in New Guinea produces further 
results in the following papers: ‘Birds from 
South East New Guinea,” by Signor T. Salvadori; 
Buprestidae (beetles), by M. C. Kerremans (French 
text). The Chilopoda and Diplopoda (Myriapods) 
collected by G. Doria and O. Beccari during the 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


voyage of the ‘‘Esploratore’’ to the Red Sea 
are enumerated by Signor F. Silvestri. Signor 
A. Perugia reports on the fishes collected by 
Captain Guiseppe Capurro in the Antilles. Signor 
T. Salvadori, catalogues the birds collected by 
Don Eugenio Ruspoli during his last voyage to the 
Somali and Gallas regions. An important mono- 
graph on the Diplopoda is commenced by Signor 
F. Silvestri, beginning with the systematic part, 
covering 132 pages. Signor S. Traverso deals 
with volcanic and metamorphic rocks from 
Sumatra. M. Sommier contributes notes on the 
Ranunculaceae in herbarium of Signor Doria. Mr. G. 
A. Boulenger, of the British Museum, gives a list 
of the Reptiles and Batrachians collected by 
Dr. Ragazzi in Shoa and Eritrea (English text). 


M. Ed. Fleutiaux enumerates the Austro- 
Malayan Eucnemidae (beetles) of the Civic 
Museum of Genoa (French text). These two 


volumes, like so many of their predecessors, 
form truly monumental contributions to zoological 
science. 

ANNALEN DES K.K. NATURHISTORISCHEN HorF- 
MUSEUMS. (Vienna, vol. x., parts 3 and 4, 1895). 
The present double number completes the volume, 
and contains title and index, besides a general index 
for the first ten volumes under authors’ names. 
The bulk of the part is taken up by a report on the 
collection of Meteorites in the Museum, with two 
appendices, the first by Professor José A. Y. 
Bonilla, Director of the Observatory of Zacatecas, 
on ‘‘ The fall of Meteoric Iron at Mazapil”; the 
second by Dr. Aristides Brezina, on ‘‘ The collec- 
tion of Meteorites of the University of Tibingen,” 
with two plates and forty figures in the text. 

ANNAES DE SCIENCIAS NaTuRAES (Oporto, July, 
1896. Vol. iii, part 3). Mr. Edwin J. Johnston 
continues his ‘‘ Floral Calendar,” and Mr. W. C. 
Tait his article on the ‘‘ Birds of Portugal,” while 
further instalments of the ‘‘Catalogue of Hemip- 
tera of Portugal’’ by Dr. de Oliveira, and of the 
“Mollusca and Brachiopoda”’ by the Editor, are 
both familiar features of this magazine. Dr. 
Lopes Vieira contributes the first instalment of a 
‘Catalogue of the Reptiles and Amphibia of 
Portugal.’’ An article by M. Ernesto Schmitz on 
the ‘‘Birds of Madeira” will be welcomed by 
ornithologists; it is divided into two parts, the 
first being a systematic list of the native birds, 
thirty-eight species being enumerated, and the 
second of migrants, in which 104 species appear ; in 
the former the locality is given for each species. 
M. Machado contributes an article on the 
“Winds and Sea Currents along part of the Portu- 
guese Coast immediately north of the Rio Douro.” 
From an obituary note we learn that the distin- 
guished Eugenio Schmitz, Engineer to the School 
of Mines, Paris, died on May 23rd, at S. Pedro 
da Cova, at the age of eighty-one. French by 
birth, he resided during sixty-six years in Portugal, 
where he diligently prosecuted the study of natural 
history. He made many contributions to science, 
chiefly on fossil-plants of the coal-measures and on 
the vascular cryptogams of the north of Portugal. 

Borany BouLiLetin (Department of Agriculture, 
Brisbane, No. xiii., 1896). ‘‘ Contributions to the 
Queensland Flora,” by F. M. Bailey, F.L.S. Several 
new species of plants are described, and notes on 
miscellaneous subjects are added. The bulk of this 
Bulletin, however, is taken up by a descriptive 
Paper on the ‘‘Chemistry and Economic Properties 
of a number of Queensland Gums and Resins,” by 
Dr. Joseph Lauterer. Four plates accompany this 
number. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


i aL wht 


Ti 


CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 
Position at Noon. 


Rises. Sets. R.A. 
Sept. h.m. hm. hm. Dec. 
Sun te 8) co SAB ETING coo CHAO HIS coo BEE) con Ge BING 
IQ ww. 5.44 coe (BB) See DAG) sce) yo Li 
Fhe) ren (KO) we 5-41 foo HWA 2043S 
Rises. Souths. Sets. 
Moon .. 9. 87 am. ... I.34p.m.... 6.45 p.m. 
19... 5-14 p.M. ...10.30 .. 2.45 a.m. 
20)... 9:5 seo SOME, poo Laue ja)seal, 
Position at Noon. 
Souths. Semi A, 
hm. Diameter. hm. Dec. 
Mercury... 9». 1.30p.m. ... 3! 3 a0 HEY) ong 23GB 
TO) <0) 11.23 <5 IO) 5 Spt) nee BS’ Gp? 
29 ..- 0.50 Aa 13.25 ... 12° 52! 
VAG schol IGy Bean aah 5 FB con Nae) can) OP eG! Se 
TG) coo Sys sole} TBA Oo BP aay 
2O han eLeLS nce, BY ZA meets} coe, AOS) coal? 
WMS con) con EYRV BGG Too 28) 4.49 ... 21° 31! N. 
IQ. 5.15 cco BY B Bo) con BP afl 
ZO AEaS co HG S01 RU) 0, EZ CG? 
Jupiter ... 19 ... 10.7 pera, = HOEY Soa 382) AGH INIe 
Saturn ...19 ... 2.59 2 GB 14.55 ... 14° 33/ S. 
Uranus ... 9 ... 3-59 awit) T5eL5) een lye 5On os 
Neptune... 9... 6.3 5 we 5.18 ... 21° 42! N. 


Moon’s PHASES. 


hm. him. 
New ... Sept. 7 ... 1.43 p.m. 1st Qy. ... Sept. 14... 4.10a.m. 
IPOS con py) RE co HOI) BY AKO 7a en 3 Olen eS Ons 


Sun.—The spots are small; on August 7th no 
spots, bright or dark, were seen on the disc. The 
mottling is, however, very beautiful at times. 


Mercury is at greatest eastern elongation, 
26° 35',on September 12th, but, notwithstanding, 
is not well placed for observation. 

Mars is daily improving its position and 
increasing in angular diameter, rising at 9.48 p.m. 
on Ist and 8.35 on 30th of month. 


THE other planets are still too near the sun for 
successful observation. 


Meteors should be looked for on September 
I-2, 6-7, II-13 and 25, specially during the first 
week. 


Broox’s CoMET remains a very faint object, and 
‘it appears that its perihelion passage will not be 
made until about November 4th. 


VARIABLE STARS.—During September the follow- 
ing are in good position :— 


R.A. Magnttude. 


h.m. N. Dec. Max. Min. Period. 
R. Andromedz 0.17 ... 37° 51! ... 6°3 ... <12'5 ... 404°0 days. 
R. Aquarii On23:37, ==) LOmnO" n-2) O)) 1) LOSSES OS Oday Ss: 
R. Cassiopezx* 23.51 ... 50° 39’... 5°7 ... <12'5 ... 430°0 days. 
a ry) OBS, coo AGS ZICY os, Pd re 28 
8 Pegasi APA) a3 9)? POP occ CE ox 27 


* A vividly red star. 

It was in Cassiopea, about R.A. oh. 20m., N. Dec. 63° 24/, 
where the brilliant new star of 1572 blazed out so vividly as 
to be visible in the noonday sky. 

THE Tota EcripsE.—As these notes are being 
prepared, the news has come to hand of the failure 
of our friends in Norway, owing to the presence of 
.a cloud which obscured the sun all the time of 
totality. It is earnestly to be hoped that the 


107 


Russian observers in Siberia have fared better. 
We fear that our Astronomer Royal has also failed 
at Jesso, in Japan. 

METEOR OF APRIL 12TH.—A most interesting 
letter has been received from Mr. W. F. Denning, 
of Bristol, respecting this splendid meteor. He 
writes: ‘‘ The meteor seems to have been first seen 
at a height of 118 miles above Formby, Lancashire, 
and to have disappeared at a height of thirty-four 
miles above Doddington, Cambridgeshire. Length 
of path, 177 miles; velocity, nineteen miles per 
second. The meteor descended to the earth’s 
surface at an angle of 31° from a radiant at about 
[R.A.} 50°, [Dec.] + 44° in Perseus. 


Tue Next Sorar Tota Ec ipse visible in the 
British Isles will be in 1954, June 30th, when an 
eclipse occurs, visible as a total eclipse at Unst, 
the most northerly of the Shetland Isles, totality 
lasting 2m. 20s. The next visible in England is in 
1999, August 11th, when the line of totality strikes 
the earth’s surface in the southern part of the Gulf 
of Mexico, crosses the Atlantic Ocean, traverses 
England from Padstow, in Cornwall, to Torquay, 
passing south of Ventnor, and finishes in the Bay 
of Bengal. Thus the late Professor C. Pritchard, 
of Oxford, was informed by the late Mr. J. Russell 
Hind, who for so many years superintended our 
‘« Nautical Almanac.”’ 


A Lunar OpjEect.—In the Mare Crisium, the 
beautiful enclosed plain in the north-west quadrant, 
three craters, known as Picard, Pierce and Pierce 
A,arevisible. To the west of Picard—the southern 
crater—is a brightish spot, which is a most 
interesting object, varying in size and brightness. 
Under certain illumination has been seen a shallow 
depression in the place of the spot, and one or two 
tiny craterlets have been noticed within its area. 
The variations in its appearance do not seem to 
tally wholly with the illumination. Sometimes it 
has almost seemed as if a sort of fog rose over the 
object and produced the appearance. It is 
undoubtedly a singular object. 


THE ZopiacaL Licut.—Those of our readers 
who live in regions possessing clear open skies 
ought to look out for this singular object. On the 
tith and 12th of February last, M. E. Antoniadi 
had a splendid view of it from Juvisy. The writer 
had good views of it in February, 1878, between 
7.20 and 8 p.m., from the Town Quay at South- 
ampton. During September and October, the 
time for observation is the early morning some 
time before sunrise. It appears as a faint cone of 
light about 12° broad at the base stretching along 
the line of the ecliptic to an altitude of say 50°, 
reminding one of the milky way. Of course it is 
observed with the naked eye. 


Lunar Ecripses.—Total eclipses of this class, 
with a clear sky, are most interesting phenomena. 
On more than one occasion the writer has noticed 
that whilst the interior of the cone of shadow 
presented a reddish or copper colour, the outer 
edge appeared blue, giving the effect of the edge 
being darker than the middle. These chromatic 
effects doubtless being due to the dispersion brought 
about by the earth’s atmosphere. These were seen 
very markedly on August 23rd, 1877, and March 
11th, 1895. Another peculiarity noticed is the 
change of the relative brightness of lunar objects 
during totality, some of the objects appearing 
abnormally bright, whilst Aristarchus, in the 
north-east quadrant, ordinarily the brightest object 
on the moon, can barely be identified. 


108 


ie SCIENCE GOSSIP Plas 
Sa ea cat J 


© Me Ot" 


ee 


Wii ew SS 


WE would draw our readers’ attention to the first 
article in this number of SciENcE-Gossip. It is 
specially written by a member of the party who are 
now trying to reach the North Pole by balloon. 
As we write, nothing certain has been heard of 
their adventure, which must necessarily cause 
their friends much anxiety. 


THE interest in Polar exploration has, during 
the past month, been greatly increased by the safe 
return of Dr. Nansen. Although he has not 
succeeded in reaching his goal, he brings home a 
mass of valuable scientific observations. He 
succeeded in considerably reducing the distance, 
pie has already been reached, from the North 

ole. 


MR. Jackson, of the Jackson-Harmsworth Polar 
Expedition, will make ev ery effort to reduce Dr. 
Nansen’s approach to the Pole. He is admirably 
equipped for the journey, and may possibly succeed 
in reaching the North Pole. He has now Dr. 
Nansen’s experience to help his own judgment. 
It is now thought that there is no land in that 
region. 


THERE seems after all to be a chance of some 
scientific observations having been made on the 
total eclipse of the sun this month. It is reported 
that Sir George Baden Powell’s yacht, Otaria, is 
returning from Nova Zembla with the astronomers 
who accepted his invitation to make an expedition 
for observing the eclipse. It is said they had a 
clear sky and were most successful. 


WE have received the “ Proceedings of the 
Liverpool Geological Society” for 1894-95, part 3, 
vol. vii. This part contains several articles of 
more than local interest. The members of the 
Association have taken advantage of some new 
railway cuttings to examine the more recent strata 
in their district. 


OweEns College, Manchester, has lost a member 
of its scientific staff who will be much missed, in 
Mr. Thomas Hick, B.A., B.Sc., Demonstrator in 
Botany. A self-taught man, he graduated at the 
London University. Always an indefatigable 
worker, although for months past he knew his 
disease must soon carry him off, he attended his 
duties at Owens College to within a fortnight of 
his death. 


WE, last month, omitted to mention the death of 
Mr. Henry James Slack, the author of the well- 
known book on ‘‘The Marvels of Pond Life,”’ 
which occurred at Forest Row, Sussex, at the age 
of seventy-seven years. He was a well-known 
microscopist, but also took interest in other 
branches of science, especially astronomy. Mr. 
Slack was the originator of the winter science 
lectures, so popular on Sunday evenings in London, 
under the auspices of the National Sunday League, 
of which society he was for a time president. He 
was also a past-president of the Royal Microscopical 
Society. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


A CURIOUS instance of the dispersal of mollusca 
by human agency is related in the ‘‘ Jahresheft der 
Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereines des Trencséner 
Comitates,’”’ 1895-96, from which it appears that 
the Collector Fennichel sent to the museum in 
Budapest, a large number of shells of Helix profuga, 
a member of the circum-Mediterranean fauna, 
collected in the neighbourhood of Astrolobe Bay, 
New Guinea, where it must, of course, have been 
introduced at some time or other. 


Tue Pharmaceutical Society has recently tried a 
test case under the Pharmacy Act of 1868, against 
a London taxidermist, for selling cyanide of 
potassium in killing-bottles, as used by entomo- 
logists. The court gaveits decision in favour of 
the Society, and assessed the damages at £5, with 
costs. Naturalists will therefore in future be 
obliged to get their instruments of death from 
their chemists, as it is illegal for taxidermists or 
others not qualified to sell such poisons. 


In connection with the Liverpool meeting of the 
British Association, from September 16th to 23rd, 
the local committee have arranged for a loan 
exhibition of objects, especially in view of illustrat- 
ing the papers or demonstrations to be placed 
before the meeting. Thecollection will be displayed 
in the new museum, now nearly finished, for the 
Zoological Department of University College, 
Liverpool. Readers desiring to exhibit should 
write to Professor Herdman, University College, 
Liverpool. 


Messrs. FREDERICK WARNE AND Co., of London, 
are issuing a new and important work upon 
‘‘Favourite Flowers of Garden and Greenhouse.” 
Although it is chiefly intended for horticulturists, 
with instructions for growing plants by Mr. 
William Watson, of Kew Gardens, Mr. Edward 
Step is to make the chief feature of the book 
interesting with popular scientific accounts of each 
plant. It is to be illustrated by 316 coloured 
plates by M. D. Bois, of Paris. It will appear in 
weekly shilling parts, each containing six coloured 
plates. 


Ir the extraordinary death-rate from heat 
apoplexy which has during the past month afflicted 
New York is any criterion of the intensity of the 
temperature in that city, it must have been high 
indeed. We doubt if the heat was so much the 
cause of the affliction as the custom of the people 
constantly using ice and iced drinks. We hear of 
the British-Egyptian Army in the Soudan at the 
same period, working while the thermometer 
registered 130° F. in the shade, but not of any 
specially increased death-rate among the troops. 


THe ‘Canadian Entomologist’? for August 
contains a sad instance of death whilst collecting 
rare insects. John B. Lembert for some time past 
had collected in the Yosemite Park, one of the 
magnificent public reserves in Western America. 
Living all alone in the wild mountains of those 
regions the years round, he was chiefly known by 
correspondence and the value of his captures. On 
April 19th last, a passing Indian found his mur- 
dered bodyin the solitary cabin where he dwelt. Pelf 
could not have tempted his murderer, for Lembert 
had neither money nor valuables. _His death is a 
great loss to American entomology, for although a 
collector first, Lembert was a keen observer and 
recorder of the habits and life-history of insects. 
His age is supposed to have been fifty-six years, 
but he leaves no one to mourn for his loss. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 109 


WATERPROOF CEMENT.—I should be glad if any 
of your readers could tell me of a recipe for making 
a waterproof glueor cement. One soluble in dilute 
acids preferred.—Alfred J. Johnson, Birmingham ; 
August 7th, 1896. 


CucKoo’s EGG IN PIED FLYCATCHER’s NEST.— 
A friend informs me he has recently seen the nest 
of the pied flycatcher with three eggs, amongst 
which was a cuckoo’s egg. The extreme rarity of 
the former bird makes this a very interesting fact. 
—E. Wheeler, Clifton ; June 18th, 1896. 


DEATH’S-HEAD MoTH CATERPILLARS ABUNDANT. 
—Have any of your readers observed an unusual 
number of the larve of the death’s-head hawk 
moth (Acherontia atropos) this year? It is no un- 
common thing for two or three to be brought to 
me, but this year I have had fifteen, of which 
twelve were found in a small cottage garden, not 
a quarter of an acre in extent, and close to my own 
garden. The others were found in three different 
places at no great distance from here. Once I had 
thirteen in the course of one late summer, but 
never before so many as this year. Once only 
have I found a specimen of the perfect insect in 
my garden, but it was much worn and not worth 
preserving. — [Rev.}] H. M. Mapleton, Badgnorth 
Rectory, Somerset ; August 17th, 1896. 


Foop oF PLusia MonEetTa.—With reference to 
Mr. C. A. Briggs’ note and query (ante p. 81) on 
Plusia moneta and its food plant; the fact that the 
larvee of this new acquisition to our fauna will feed 
upon the ordinary garden larkspur (Delphinium), a 
plant very closly allied to monkshood (Aconitum), is 
perhaps not generally known. Monkshood is such 
a particularly all-round poisonous plant that itis to 
be found freely only in old-fashioned country gardens, 
so that when my larve this spring had eaten up the 
supply of monkshood taken at the time they were 
captured, they had to eat larkspur, of which I had 
a plentiful supply, or die. I found they took to it 
readily enough, and fed up easily and freely. Whilst, 
however, the larve that fed up chiefly on the monks- 
hood pupated in a bright orange-coloured cocoon, 
those that for the most part ate larkspur made a 
dirty white cocoon. Possibly this difference may 
not be entirely due to the food-plant, but it appears 
probably so, to a large extent.—Thos. Wm. Hall, 
Stanhope, The Crescent, Croydon. 


EFFECT OF FEAR ON Birps.—The article in 
SCIENCE-GossIP (ante p. 34) on the effect of fear 
upon herons, has recalled to my mind a similar 
incident with regard to swallows. A few years ago, 
at Cawthorne, in Yorkshire, I was playing with 
a youngster’s iron hoop and sent the thing flying 
down a steep hill. The road took a sharp bend at 
the bottom of the hill, with the result that the hoop 
went with a loud noise against the stone wall. 
Two swallows were flying over the road at the 
time, and as the hoop struck the wall beneath 
them they dropped as if they had been shot. They 
fell into a bed of nettles, and though I was quite 
thirty yards away I found on walking up to the 


nettles they were still lying there, as though 
stunned. I picked up one of them in my hand, 
whilst the other few away. The one I secured 
seemed in a dazed condition, and sat in my open 
hand for at least three minutes, when I threw it up 
in the air, rather expecting it to drop, but it flew 
away easily as it was uninjured in any way. I 
have never since seen a similar case, and was 
much interested in your correspondent’s note.— 
Thos. Midgley, Chadwick Musewm, Bolton. 

CLEANING Harb-SET Eccs.—Having for years 
experienced great difficulty in dealing with birds’- 
eggs which I have taken hard-set, I have this year 
tried the following method which I have found 
most satisfactory, and which I think might prove 
useful to other collectors. Take a fine needle and 
prick a circle on the side of the egg, making the 
holes as near an even size and as small as possible. 
When the piece of shell within the circle is entirely 
separated, carefully remove it, and with a fine pin, 
bent as a hook, extract the contents of the egg. 
Thoroughly wash out the egg, dry it, and lightly 
stuff it with cotton wool. Apply a little liquid 
gum on the inner surface and edge of the removed 
piece of shell, and replace it carefully in its previous 
position. If this be done with extreme care and 
nicety, the line of the circle is barely perceptible. 
The size of the circle must be about one quarter of 
an inch in diameter, more or less according to the 
size of the egg. In making the holes it is best not 
to prick them too close to one another at first, but 
to go round a second or even a third time if 
necessary. Also it is helpful to draw a circle 
faintly with a pencil, and to put a cross line to 
show the exact position of the piece of shell when 
replacing it. I have lately prepared for my 
collection in this manner, four eggs of grasshopper 
warbler, one of red-legged partridge, and two of 
coots, all of which eggs had been extremely hard 
set, and it would have been quite impossible to 
have blown them in the ordinary way.—E. W. 
Du Buisson, Hereford; August, 1896. 

DaPHNIA AND RotiFeErs.—Mr. Saml. Bolton 
writes me as follows: ‘‘ Your note on red patches in 
small ponds has nothing to do with Daphnia or 
Rotifers (SclIENcE-Gossip, August, 1896), but are 
Tubifex, and most likely some of the blood-red 
worms with them. If you had plunged a fine net 
into the mud you would have landed thousands; 
you have to be quick or they withdraw under the 
mud, they will also retract if your shadow goes 
over them. Mr. Baird must also have been mis- 
taken with the same thing. The Daphnia would 
be in the water, but you could not see them; but 
the sun shining on the Tubifex, they would show 
through the Entomostraca.’’ Mr. Bolton is no 
doubt a much more experienced naturalist than I 
am, but he is clearly wrong in his explanation of 
the red patches, for I filled two or three bottles 
from the red patches and found them to consist of 
one dense mass of Emtomostraca. The bottle of 
water looked like red ink from the immense number 
of its small red occupants. Professor Carr, of the 
Nottingham University, an excellent observer, saw 
them as well as myself, and there could be no doubt 
in the matter. The problem I wish to have solved 
is why the Daphnia collect in such enormous 
numbers accompanied by parasitical rotifers? Is 
it for mutual protection against these parasites? 
I sent a retriever dog to swim through the mass, 
and even then the Daphnia did not ‘‘retract,’’ as 
as Mr. Bolton says, but merely shifted their 
position.— W. Warrand, Ormidale, Colintraive, Argyll- 
shive ; August gth, 1896. 


IIo 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


LEPIDOPTERA AT Hastines.—On July zoth I 
saw a perfect specimen of the large tortoise-shell 
butterfly (Vanessa fpolychloros) evidently just out 


It was at rest ona leaf, so afforeda 
good view, when it was at once seen not to be 
V. urtice. On August 3rd I had a larva of the 
deathshead moth (Acherontia atropos) brought to 
me. It had been found in the centre of Hastings, 
in a garden, feeding on the common groundsel. 
Is not this a new food-plant for this species? 
Last autumn a friend of mine caught a specimen 
of Catocala fraxina, that had flown into their 
house in Hastings, and which I do not think has 
been hitherto recorded —H. W. Ford-Lindsay, The 
Shrubbery, Clive Vale, Hastings ; August 3rd, 1806. 

Vipers IN Damp Praces.—When in search of 
sedge-warblers, as described below, it might also 
be interesting to mention that, in spite of the wet, 
we saw two vipers, which slipped into the water upon 
seeing us, and it is worth remarking that I have 
never been to these marshes without finding vipers, 
which shows their partiality for wet land is quite as 
great, and in my opinion the more so, as their love 
for the dry, sandy bank facing the south. I also 
discovered, suspended on a reed, a large cocoon 
which I took to be that of the drinker-moth 
(Odonetis potatovia), but from which, to my 
pleasure, a lappet mo (Gastropacha quercifolia) has 
since emerged. — Mead Briggs, 37, Nunnery 
Fields, Canterbury ; aly 28th, 1806. 

NESTING OF SEDGE-WARBLERS.—Some time ago 
I ventured to put forward a few short notes with 
reference to the nesting-sites of the sedge-warbler 
(Acrocephalus phragmites), and I then stated (SCIENCE- 
Gossip, vol. ii., p. 156) my own experience had 
clearly shown that this bird did at times un- 
doubtedly suspend its nest in the reeds, or rather 
sedges, in a like manner to the cup-shaped cradle 
of the reed-warbler. Subsequently, my notes were 
agreeably confirmed by Mr. H. K. Swann (ScIENCcE- 
GossiP, vol. ii., p. 249), but for many reasons I was 
unable to adduce further evidence of this habit, so 
much contradicted by many eminent ornithologists, 
until this year, when, through the kindness of Mr. 
Carrington and the courtesy of Mr. Stevens, 
General Manager of the South-Eastern Railway, I 
was able once more to visit an old and favourite 
locality on the South-Eastern Railway Company’s 
land. Unfortunately rain considerably marred our 
pleasure and hampered our progress on the one and 
only day it was possible to go, and although, from 
the standpoint of myself and friend, the outing was 
more or less a dismal failure, we were able to find 
two more suspended nests of the sedge-warbler, 
one of which contained young birds which flew on 
our approach. The shape of this nest to a great 
extent has been more or less spoiled by the young 
birds and its rough-and-tumble journey, but by the 
aid of wires I have tried to restore it as much as 
possible. This nest was about two feet above the 
water, close to the edge of the dyke, and as the 
sedges were old and brittle it was impossible to cut 
them any length —H. Mead Briggs, 37, Nunnery 
Fields, Canterbury ; July 28th, 1896. 


from pupa. 


Rare Funcus, ANNULARIA Lz&vis.—In the 
autumn of 1894, after the great heat of the pre- 
ceding summer, I found several specimens of the 
fungus, Annulavia levis, a species and a genus not, 
as far as I know, hitherto recorded in this country ; 
the plants were in two different localities, quite a 
mile distant. Drawings of these were sent, with 
others, to Mr. Murray at the South Kensington 
Museum.—F. Wheeler, Clifton, Bristol; June 18th, 
1896. 


FRUITING OF AURACARIA.—Referring to the 
remarks of Mr. Lett (ante p. 24) respecting the 
fruiting of Auracarvia in Ireland, I do not think it 
was at all an uncommon occurrence here during 
the hot summer of 1894. When at Clevedon, 
Somerset, in the autumn of that year, there were 
several trees of this species which bore extremely 
fine cones. No doubt the development of fruit 
resulted from the abnormal heat of that year.— 
E. Wheeler, Clifton, Bristol ; June 18th, 18096. 


ABNORMAL PLANTS AT Botton.—Enclosed you 
will find a peculiarly-twisted stem of figwort. Ido 
not know if this form is common, but we have 
come across two examples this season in this 
neighbourhood, also one with whorled leaves. 
Another peculiar sport is of the garlic. This was 
found near Chorley, about nine miles from here, by 
Mr. J. Ashton. There is an abnormal growth of a 
leaf from the calyx of the flower. The following 
double-headed varieties of flowers have also been 
found near here this season: dandelion, two or 
three examples of mayflower, plantain, treble- 
headed ox-eye daisy, also unusually deep red- 
coloured flowers of yarrow.—Thos. Midgley, Chad- 
wick Museum, Bolten, Lancashire ; July, 1896. 


Botton Botanica Society.—At the commence- 
ment of the present year a few botanical enthusiasts 
waited upon the Chairman of the Museum Com- 
mittee at Bolton, in Lancashire, asking that a 
Botanical Society might be formed, having the 
privilege of holding its meetings fortnightly, on 
Monday evenings, in the Museum. Permission 
was granted, and the society formed under the title 
of ‘‘ The Borough of Bolton Botanical Society,” 
the annual subscription being only two shillings. 
Previously there had been many such societies in 
the town, but they have never had a suitable place 
of meeting. The new society has already over 
sixty members and numbers of enthusiastic workers. 
Our aim is to tabulate the flora of the district, and 
as several of the local landowners have granted the 
members free access to their estates, I doubt not 
that with a few seasons’ working, this end will be 
achieved. I enclose you a card, and from this you 
will see that fortnightly rambles are held; the 
specimens collected on the Saturdays being brought 
down to the meeting, and explained and commented 
upon on the Monday following. This society 
cannot fail to encourage in the district a taste for 
natural science as well as botany.—Thos. Midgley, 
Hon. Sec., Chadwick Museum, Bolton. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


SoutH LonDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND 
Natura History Society.—July 9th; Mr. C. G. 
Barrett, Vice-President, in the chair. Mr. R. Adkin 
exhibited a short bred series of Dianthecia nana 
(conspersa), from larve taken in Hoy; they were 
all dark in colour, about midway between the 


THE 


Shetland and Scottish mainland forms; also a 
series of D. capsincola, from the same locality, 
showing no variation from the usual English form. 
Mr. Auld, series of varieties of Abvavas grossulariata 
bred this year; one specimen was said to be of a 
unique form, the basal half of each wing being 
curiously streaked, while the outer half was quite 
normal ; on the hind wings the streaks were very 
irregular in length. Mr. Turner, series and life- 
histories of the following species of Coleophora : 
C. lineolea from Brockley and Lewisham, C. albitar- 
sella from Lewisham, C. palliatella from Epping 
Forest, C. laricella and C. fuscedinella from Carlisle ; 
the latter species showed the young curved cases, 
which are abandoned early, and new straight ones 
made ; also living pupz of Gonopteryx rhamni from 
Byfleet. Mr. Lucas, bred specimens and pupa- 
skins of the local dragonfly, Evythromma naias, from 
Byfleet. Mr. Perks, a specimen of the Polyporus 
sulphureus taken from an old willow. Mr. Enoch, a 
living specimen of the very rare male of Prestwichia 
aquatica, which, with the assistance of Messrs. 
Dennis and Scarfield, he had discovered in a pond 
in Epping Forest; it had only the merest rudi- 
ments of wings. He much doubted the statement 
that the species was parasitic on the eggs of 
dragonflies; the ovipositor seemed too strong 
and too long. He suggested that the ova were 
deposited in some aquatic larve.—July 23rd; 
Mr. T. W. Hall, F.E.S., Vice-President, in 
the chair. Mr. West (Streatham) exhibited 
specimens of Catocala promissa and C. sponsa, 
bred from larve taken during the Society’s Field- 
meeting at Whitsuntide. Mr. R. Adkin, a bred 
series of a Hypsipetes, reared from larve taken 
in Orkney by Mr. McArthur. He was unable to 
say whether they were H. trifasciata or H. rubevata, 
although he was inclined to think they were 
referable to the latter species. He also exhibited a 
specimen of Cznonympha pamphilus, with the row of 
ocelli on the underside very well developed. Mr. 
Dennis, a series of undersides of Cupido minima, 
taken at Horsley, showing a complete gradation in 
the number and development of the spots, and also 
one upper side well scaled with blue. Mr. Fremlin, 
specimens of Polyommatus astvache var. salmacis, 
from Castle Eden Dene. Mr. Mansbridge, varieties 
of Abraxas grossulaviata bred from larvz obtained at 
Horsforth. Out of 150 larvz two or three per cent 
only showed a more than ordinary variation, com- 
pared with some fifteen per cent last year from the 
same locality. Two specimens were asymmetrical, 
and one was a nicely radiate form. Mr. West, 
(Greenwich) exhibited specimens of the hemipteron 
Dicyphus epilobii from Eltham. Mr. Moore, a 
specimen of the second brood of Cyaniris argiolus, 
taken on July r2th at Oxshott, and also a specimen 
of Plebeius @gon destitute of the row of fulvous 


BE 


blotches on the upper surface, and one having 
confluent spots on the underside. Mr. Robt. 
Adkin contributed a: paper entitled ‘‘ Notes and 
Observations made during the Society's Field 
Meeting at Chalfont Road, on July 18th, 1896.”— 
August 13th; Mr.C. G. Barrett, F.E.S., in the 
chair. Mr. S. Stevens exhibited an unusually 
small specimen of Papilio machaon, having the 
black band on the hind wing very narrow. Mr. 
R. Adkin, a bred series of Pachnobia hyperborea, from 
pupe taken at Rannoch. Mr. McArthur, a pre- 
served larva of the same species, mounted on a 
twig of its food-plant (Empetrum nigrum) the crow- 
berry, and gave interesting details as to its life- 
history.—Hy. J. Turner (Hon. Report Sec.) 


NortH Lonpon Naturat History Society.— 
June 25th; Mr. C. B. Smith, President, in the 
chair.—Insects, plants and photographs from North 
Wales were largely represented, including : Exhibits 
by Mr. C. Nicholson, Calocampa vitusta, Emmelesia 
afinitata, Lithosia griseola, Emmelesia decolovata and 
Melanippe unangulata, all from Pwllheli ; also photo- 
graphs of the Pwllheli district, in Wales: Mr. 
Battley, a piece of stone from North Wales with 
dendritic markings resembling moss, also specimens 
of Carterocephalus palemon, Acronycta ligustri, Cidavia 
silaceata, etc., from Northamptonshire; Mr. R. W. 
Robbins, plants and insects from Wales, and larve 
of Dianthecia capsincola and D. carpophaga, and 
imago of Sesia myopeformis from Clapton; Miss 
Simmons, specimens of Bryonia dioica, Ononis 
arvensis (rest harrow), Silene cucubalus, Habenaria 
conopsea (sweet-scented orchis), Ophrys apifeva (bee 
orchis), and Briza media. Mr. L. J. Tremayne 
drew attention to the recent discussion in the 
Entomological Society of London on the question 
of over-collecting in the lepidoptera, which resulted 
in the formation of a committee to enquire into the 
matter, moved the following resolution, which was 
seconded by Miss Nicholson and carried: ‘“‘ That 
this society heartily approves of the action of the 
Entomological Society of London in appointing a 
committee to deal with the question of over-collect- 
ing in the lepidoptera, and will be pleased to 
support the society in any action they may think 
fit to take in the matter." Mr. C. B. Smith read a 
paper entitled, ‘‘ Notes from North Wales,” being 
a description of a holiday spent there last July 
by himself and Mr. R. W. Robbins. They had 
fixed their headquarters at Barmouth, and had 
thoroughly explored the surrounding district, 
ascending Snowdon and Cader Idris, and visiting 
all the places of interest in the neighbourhood.— 
July ri1th; Mr. C. B. Smith, President, in the 
chair. Exhibits: Mr. C. Nicholson, two ova which 
he supposed were Dianthecia capsincola. They were 
laid on the flower of Lychnis vespertina, the white 
campion, and were whitish when laid, but became 
brown as the flower withered. They were from 
Clapton. Mr. Prout rather queried their species, 
as he said that D. capsincola has a very long ovi- 
positor, and one would expect the eggs to be more 
deeply inserted in the plant and not so conspicuous as 
these appeared tobe. Mr. Nicholson also exhibited 
a cocoon of Cossus ligniperda from the Island Horse- 
shoe Point, near Spring Hill; also series of Bombyx 
queycus and B. callune from Cromer, North Wales, 
Yorkshire and Hampshire; also, a pair of Raphidia 
ophiopsis (the snake-fly), from Epping Forest, and 
a couple of leaves from a lime-tree growing in the 
grounds of Sir H. Bessemer, at Dulwich. The 
tree always produces abnormally large leaves. 
Those exhibited measured ro} inches by 8 inches. 


Ii2 


Mr. R. W. Robins subsequently suggested that 
these belonged to the American bass tree: Mr. 
Battley, flowers of the bee orchis (Ofhrys apifera), 
from Reigate Hill; Mr. Quail, a box of micro- 
lepidoptera, including Agrotea memoralis and 
Pievophora tephradaelylus, taken near Herne Bay. 
Mr. Simes said that Mr. A. C. Smith had been 
taking Melitea cinzia in plenty, at Guernsey. Mr. 
Battley gave an account of a trip to Northampton- 
shire, at Whitsuntide, where he had taken Cartero- 
cephalus palemon, and larve of Thecla pruni, T. 
w-album, T. betule, Astevoscopus sphinx, Trichiura 
crategt, etc. He had also noticed some pure white 
flowers of the purple bugle (Ajuga reptans). Mr. 
Bacot read the following notes on the genus 
Smerinihus: “‘I have lately been assembling the 
species of Smerinthus in my garden at Clapton. 
On the 7th, I took four S. t##liz between 8.50 and 
9.25 pm. With S. fopuli and S. ocellatus, I find 
it necessary to place the female on a bush, or to 
leave the cage open, when a male will usually be 
found in copula with the female next morning. 
The males of these species de not, so far as 
my experience goes, assemble till after midnight, 
probably just before dawn. I think TI have at last 
hit upon a reasonable explanation of the eye-spots 
on the hind wings of S. ocellaius. If the moth is 
disturbed when resting, it raises its fore-wings and 
suddenly exposes the eyes. The effeci is rather 
startling, and is probably effective in scaring any 
small bird that might interfere with it. In breed- 
ing S. tilig, 1 have found that though the larve up 
to about their third mouli do very well on fresh 
young shoots of the lime, they require less 
succulent food after this moult, and thrive best on 
the smaller dark green, fleshy leaves from the top 
or upper branches of the tree.” Mr. R. W. Robbins 
recorded one Zonosoma annulata, from Chattenden. 
Mr. Prout recorded Acontia luctuosa, Scoria lineata, 
and the larvz of Saturnia pavonia on oak, from the 
same district. Mr. Prout also recorded eight 
Setina irvorella, seven Acidalia ornaia, Anaitis 
plagiata in great abundance amongst the St. John’s 
wort, but very worn, and Philabapteryx vitalbaia, 
from Bosxhill, taken on July gth. Mr. Jennings 
said he had been working up the local lists of 
Diptera and Hymenoptera, and reported progress. 
To the Diptera he had added twenty-three species, 
and had also met with one or two insects which 
occurred rarely last year, notably Mintho preceps 
and Mersdon equestris._ In the Aculeate Hymen- 
optera he had added several new bees, amongst 
them M¢electa armata, one of the parasitic bees, which 
he took from the burrows of Anthophora jilifes in 
Epping Forest in April. In the Tenthredinide, 
Ichneumonidz, and allied families of Phytophagous 
Hymenoptera, a few new species had occurred, 
but our list at present was a very short one. 
On Saturday, July rzth, the Society made an 
excursion to Leigh. The party travelled by the 
3-8 train from Fenchurch Street to Benfleet, and 
proceeded to Candy Island, having heard that 
this was now the best locality for Hesperia linzola. 
The coveted insect, however, was not found during 
the afternoon, and entomology was almost a per- 
fect blank. Messrs. C. S. Nicholson and L. J. 
Tremayne found a few planis, including Vica 
tetvasperma, Lepidium ruderale and Torilis nodosa. 
The members enjoyed a very good tea at an inn by 
the river, and subsequently returned home by a 
late train. Other members of the Society were in 
another part of Candy Island during the afternoon, 
and took H. linzola in some numbers.—Lawrence J. 
Tremayne, Hon. Sec. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 


To CormRESPONDENTS AND EXCHANGERS.—ScIENCE-GosSIP 
is published on the 25th of each month. All notes or other 
communications should reach us not later than the 18th of 
the month for insertion in the following number. No com- 
munications can be inserted or noticed without full name 
and address of writer, 


Noticze.—Contributors are requested to strictly observe the 
following rules. All contributions must be clearly written 
on one side of the paper only. Words intended to be 
printed in sfalics sh-uld be marked under with a single line. 
Generic names must be given in full, excepting where used 
immediately before. Capitals may only be used for generic, 
and not specific names. Scientific names and names of 
places to be written in round hand. 


Tze Editor is not responsible for unused MSS., neither 
can he undertake to return them, unless accompanied with 
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Fate of 6s. 6d. for twelve months (including postage), should 
be remitted to the Proprietors, 60, St. Martin’s Lane, 
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Txe Editor will be pleased to answer questions and name 
specimens through the Correspondence column of the maga- 
zine. Specimens, in good condition, of not more than three 
species to be sent at one time, carriage paid. Duplicates 
only to be sent, which will not be returned. The specimens 
must have identifying numbers attached, together with 
locality, date and particulars of capture. 


ALL editorial communications, books or instruments for 
review, Specimens for identification, etc.. to be addressed to 
Joux T. Carrineton, 1, Northumberland Avenue, London, 


EXCHANGES. : 
Notice.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including 
name and address) admitted free, but additional words must 
be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words 
or less. 


BritisH Birnps’ Eces.—For exchange, common, kittiwake 
and other gulls, R. T. divers, R. N. phalarope, eiders, five 
species terns, guillemots (choice and common), sormorants, 
rock-pipits, nightjars and others: also bird-skins and well- 
stuffed specimens. Wanted, other British clutches of eggs. 
—E. G. Potter, 19, Price Sireet, York. 

DuPLicatTes.—A large number of New Forest Lepidoptera 
and Coleoptera: desiderata, northern species and foreign 
stamps.—A. Ford, Fernleigh, Rugby Road, Brighton. 

LanpD Mollusca, Lepidoptera. Coleoptera, and other orders 
of insects to exchange for exotic Lepidoptera—W. G. 
Clements, Linden Cottage, Frindsbury, Rochester. 

OFFERED, Tasmanian shells, correctly named, land and 
marine, principally the latter, about 200 species. Wanted, 
British and foreign shells not in my collection, lists first— 
W. L. May. Sandford, Tasmania. 

For Excsance.—Foreign land shells (Maltese and 
Sicilian), unmounted Foraminifera, excellent Miocene 
fossils, named, fossil sharks’ teeth (seven families), Mediter- 
ranean marine shells, ostrich eggs, mounted diatoms by 
Tempére, micro-sections of fossil woods, geological photo- 
graphs. Wanted, microscope lamp, cabinet, polariscope, 
zeological books, works on the Foraminifera and Mollusca.— 
J. H. Cooke, 123, Monk’s Road, Lincola. 

FFERED, contents of 21-drawer cabinet of minerals and of 
14-drawer cabinet of foreign shells. Wanted, minerals, 
volcanic rock, or an astronomical telescope.——T. Stock, 16, 
Glen Park, Eastville, Bristol. 

Txomson and Tait’s Treatise, “ Natural Philosophy,” De 
Morgan's “ Differential and Integral Calculus,” Lagrange’s 
““ Mécanique Analytique,” cost £3 10s.: exchange whole or 
part for microscopic apparatus.—Blacklock, 19, Bruntsfield 
Avenue, Edinburgh. 

VERTIGO SUBSTRIATA, V. alpestris, H. pygmeza, P. anglica, 
Hyalinia nitidula var. Helmii, Azeca tridens var. crystalli 
and others, for H. aspersa var. unicolor, L. oblonga, L. 
involuta, Vertigoes.—A. Hartley, 1+, Croft Street, Idle, York- 
shire. 

WanTED, avanturine felspar, avanturine quartz, sard, 
fortification agate, brecciated agate, prase chrysoberyl, 
aquamarine, tourmaline, diopside; good minerals or fossils 
given in exchange for any one of the above; lists exchanged. 
—P. J. Roberts, 11, Ash Street, Bacup. 

WAnTED, amateur photographs oi the sea, studies of waves 
and breakers; value given—C. Dyer, 12, Stockwell Park 
Road, Clapham Road, S.W. e 

WANTED, to exchange the rhyolites of County Antrim for 
ceratites and other fossils —R. Ball, 16, Charleville, Belfast. 

WANTED, specimens of rare and uncommon fruits with 
foliage attached, Monstera deliciosa, Berberis dulcis, 
Eugenia ugni, gnavas, musas, cic.; cash, state price.— 
David Sydney Fish, 12, Fettes Row, Edinburgh. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


il3 


ABNORMAL HAWKBIT. 


By P. TAYLOR. 


ape plant shown in the accompanying photo- 

graphs is the common hawkbit (Leontodon 
hispidus), and was found by myself growing at the 
foot of the cliff between Lavernock Point and 
Swanbridge (about three miles from Penarth), in 
South ;Wales,’ on August 3rd, 1896. It is about 


stalkless flower-buds. Those flowers which have 
stalks may be seen in the photographs near the 
two upper corners of the ‘‘fan.’’ A few inches 
from the root there branches off a separate flat 
stem, about a quarter of an inch thick and one and 
a-quarter inches wide, which has curved over upon 


FASCIATED HAwWkKBIT, SHOWING THE TWO SIDES. 


twenty-eight inches in height above ground, and 
consists of a fasciated mass, somewhat fan-shaped, 
varying in thickness from about a quarter of an 
inch at the top, to half an inch or more at the root, 
the breadth along the top edge being fifteen inches. 
The ‘‘fan” is clothed with a number of leaves, 
those at the top being much smaller and of a 
different shape to those growing lower down. The 
flowers grow directly from the ‘‘ fan,” and, with a 
few exceptions, without any stalk. The top edge 
of the ‘‘ fan”’ is covered with some hundreds of the 


OcToBER, 1896.—No. 29, Vol. 3. 


itself in a spiral of two complete turns, very much 
in the same manner as the ash branch figured on 
page 6 of vol. ii., ScliENcE-Gossip (March, 1895). 
The formation of this spiral stem cannot be seen 
in the photographs, as it is hidden by the leaves 
growing from it, but the position is indicated by 
the projection on the right-hand side of the photo- 
graph marked a. There were also several flower- 
buds with the usual stalks growing from the spiral 
stem. 
47, Stanwell Road, Penarth; August 13th, 1896. 


114 


EROSION 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


IN EXTRA-MARINE MOLLUSCA. 


By ArtHur E. Boycott. 


Soha years ago I collected some 1,100 or 1,200 

Unio pictorum and Anodonta cygnaea in some 
ponds in Kent. The ponds were apparently a 
series of old marl pits, and in them these two 
species occurred in great profusion, so much so 
that after a successful day’s work in the water, 
sacks were necessary to take home the spoil. 
Variation in the long series thus procured was not 
unnaturally frequent, but at present I desire to 
draw attention to a certain form of erosion which I 
noticed in the specimens from this locality. Both 
Unio and Anodonta were a good deal eroded, but 
not excessively so, and in some of the ponds 
Bithinia tentaculata (*) and B. leachii also occurred, 
much eroded and decollated, the decollation here 
being, of course, only a special form of erosion. 
Besides the usual absence of periostracum round 
the umbones, many specimens, especially of U. 
pictorum, exhibited a curious kind of erosion else- 
where on the shell, very commonly near the ventral 
border. It consists of comparatively deep and 
narrow pits and grooves, the latter running approxi- 
mately parallel with the lines of growth. Now 
this pit erosion in not very rare, but the noticeable 
point about it is that in almost all cases a 
very nearly similar erosion was present on both 
valves. Whatever was the cause of the malforma- 
tion, the mollusc seems to have had a strong desire 
to make its shell as nearly bilaterally symmetrical 
as possible. Theshells mostly occurred at the time 
of collecting (September), with their anterior two- 
thirds buried in the mud, and of course the cause 
of the similarity of the erosion on the two valves 
may have been the fact that the two sides were 
almost precisely equally exposed to or protected 
from the mud or water. I may mention that the 
pits and grooves occur both at the anterior and 
posterior ends, if anything more frequently at 
the latter. Since first noticing this symmetrical 
erosion, I have come across several similar cases. 
For instance, I have a specimen of Sfhaerium 
corneum on a caddis-case, which was evidently put 
under contribution when alive, as the valve, which 
is stuck on to the case, is strongly and distinctly 
indented at the point of attachment; this indenta- 
tion is reproduced on the free valve. Again, in 
examining a number of young A. cygnaea, I found 
that many cases of slight malformations from 
injuries had been reproduced, so that both valves 
were very similar in appearance. It is easy to 


(1) I may add that in these extensively eroded B. tentaculata 
the following points struck me: the shells were thicker, and 
the opercula were thicker, more concave, with stronger 
striz, and appeared larger in comparison with the mouth of 
the shell. 


imagine how the edge of the mantle on both sides 
might be injured simultaneously, e.g., by a fish 
biting at the shell, but it is not very clear how 
these young Anodonta could have been injured at 
all in this way. They occurred in the soft mud at 
the bottom of a large artificial tank, where there 
were a few pike and perch, and numbers of roach, 
but I noticed that the shells crawled about nearly 
under the surface of the mud, the young ones 
going especially deep. At any rate, the symmetry 
of the injury, however caused, was very apparent 
in many cases. It is noticeable, in passing, that 
though the mud at the bottom was rather foul, yet 
the shells of both A. cygnaea and U. pictorum and 
iumidus there occurring were remarkably clean and 
bright, owing, no doubt, to the fact that the water 
is always fresh and clean. 

The same kind of symmetry is often observable 
in the erosion round the umbones of Unionidaz, but 
it is, as a rule, I think, much less exact than in 
many of the pit and groove cases. Where the 
ordinary patch erosion runs very deep I have not, 
as a rule, noticed much correspondence between 
the valves. Near Hereford, on the Wye, I once 
took some Margaritana margaritifera, in which the 
erosion had apparently gone right through the shell. 
Sand had entered the hole, but it had soon been 
skinned over by the animal, and eventually a hard 
lump—often of considerable size—of agglutinated 
sand was formed within the shell. I have not seen 
a specimen in which this erosion had gone right 
through both valves. 

I find that J. W. Taylor (?) has figured a very 
good case of symmetrical injury in A. cygnaea, 
which he attributes to some severe injury of the 
mantle. As in most cases of shell-distortion which 
are approximately symmetrical, one side is worse 
than the other. 

The explanation of the causes of erosion in fresh- 
water shells seems almost as far distant as ever. 
That is to say, authorities do not seem to agree as 
to the reason, or reasons, for the initial loss of 
the periostracum. That CO, in solution, as it is 
in almost every water, will dissolve away the 
CaCO; of the shell seems certain enough, but the 
loss of the organic covering of the shell cannot, 
apparently, be due to the same cause. The 
explanations to account for the wearing of the 
periostracum are very numerous: some say it is 
caused by the boring of microscopic fungi (?), and 
it has often been stated that other snails eat away 


(?) Monograph i. (1895), p. 103, fig. 216. 

(3) On this subject see E. Bornet and C. Flahault, Buil. 
Soc. Bot. de France, xxxvi. (1890), pp. 147-176; Abstract in 
“Nature,” xliii., p. 185. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


the shells of their companions; in fact, Shuttleworth 
goes so far as to say that he can recognize the 
marks of the teeth of Neritina fluviatilis on other 
shells, and Sowerby held that some acid was 
developed from fermenting vegetable matter (1). 
G. W. Shrubsole has shown that out of four waters. 
examined three, which contained from 0°53 to 4:00 
grains of lime per gallon, acted strongly on shells, 
while the other one, which contained 8°33 grains, 
had no action (2). But it does not appear whether 
all the other constituents of these waters were 
estimated, and four cases are not very many to 
found an observation of this kind on. Something 
of the same kind has been suggested by S. 
P. Woodward (°), who says: ‘All fresh waters 
are more or less saturated with carbonic-acid 
Pasa News But in the absence of lime to 
neutralise the acid, the water acts on the shells.”’ 
This is of course no explanation of the loss of 
periostracum, At first sight the electrolytic 
process consequent on imperfect homogeneity of 
the shell, suggested to J. G. Jeffreys (4) by W. 
R. Grove, is an attractive idea; but the action 
should be stronger in the sea than in fresh water, 
whereas, as a fact, erosion is much more common 
among extra-marine forms. 

It seems rather hard to understand how the 
“eggs of N. fluviatilis” (7) or HgS could possibly 
destroy any part of the shell’s periostracum. It 
seems to me that the initial cause of erosion (in most 
cases at any rate) is not to be looked for in such 
agencies ; I believe it to be a natural consequence 
of a state which might be termed one of “ general 
ill-health,” and the following case illustrates the 
point. In April, 1893, a single large Limnaea peregra 
was brought from some ponds close by and placed 
in a small fountain-basin, about eight feet in 
diameter by two feet or so deep. The descendants 
of this specimen bred and flourished exceedingly for 
some time. In the autumn of last year (1895), how- 
ever, I noticed one specimen which was very slightly 
eroded. In February, 1896, some dozen specimens, 
apparently in good health and uneroded, were 
placed in a small jar aquarium in the house, where 
they seemed to do wellat first. In April, I noticed 
(they had not been under constant observation) 
that some had died, while all that were left 
were infected, to an extraordinary degree, with 
Chaetogaster, and all were considerably eroded. On 
examining the fountain, many dead shells appeared, 
and nearly every specimen was more or less 
eroded and infected with the parasitic worm. The 
remainder of the specimens in the jar died by the 
middle of May, after having been obviously ill. 


(1) Gray’s Turton, ed. 2 (1857), p. 46. 


(7) piourn: of Conch., v., p. 66; Camb. Nat. Hist., iii. (1895), 
p. 276. 
(3) Manual (1851), p. 41. 


(*) Brit. Conch,, i., pp. li.-liv. 


II5 


At the present time (August) there are very few 
live pevegya in the fountain, where before this 
summer they were exceedingly abundant. 

This was the first batch of eroded peregva I have 
come across, and the association of Chaetogaster 
with them was very striking. 

How far Chaetogastey is injuriously parasitic on 
snails I do not quite know. P. J. Van Beneden (5) 
says it lives ‘‘at the expense of ’’ mollusca; F. E. 
Beddard says that C. limnaet of Von Baer (= C. 
diaphanus, Oersted) ‘‘lives parasitically upon fresh- 
water mollusca, and sometimes within their 
bodies” (°). It does not, however, appear that, as 
a rule, the worm actually feeds—at any rate 
entirely—on the snails. I have frequently noticed 
vegetable remains in their gut, and once a 
specimen of Pediastrum (2). But at the same time 
it would appear very probable that they are in 
some way injurious to their hosts. It is possible, 


‘of course, that the small volume of water in 


which the fevegra were placed acted injuriously, 
but other specimens had been living more than a 
year in a precisely similar aquarium without 
showing obvious signs of ill-health. In another 
similar jar some specimens of Planorbis complanatus 
were placed, and, about the same time, developed 
a pit erosion (7), and eventually most of them died. 
Here again I think erosion was consequent on ill- 
health, how caused I do not know. I failed to 
find Chaetogaster, but, on the whole, Planorbis seems 
to bear a small volume and bad conditions much 
worse than Limnaea. 

I have somewhere seen it strenuously denied that 
there is any ‘‘organic connection” between the 
snail and the periostracum of its shell. But it 
appears probable that such a connection, weak it is 
true, may exist. Whenasnail dies, the periostracum 
soon goes if it is exposed to the weather. If there 
is no organic connection between the periostracum 
and the snail, why should this be so? And hence, 
the connection may be partially suspended in ill- 
health, as in the case of L. peregra above, and so 
removal of the periostracum and consequent erosion 
ensues. After the very severe frost early in 1895, I 
noticed that deperiostracization was comparatively 
common in living Tachea from an exposed railway 
embankment. In Lamellibranchiata, the umbones 
are nearly always—normally in fact—eroded. They 
are the oldest part of the shell, and in that part of 
the shell the connection with the living animal is 
soonest given up and weakest. Once, so to speak, 
the periostracum is dead, it is removed by natural 
processes of decay, and the calcareous substance is 
dissolved by the carbon dioxide in the water. 

Asa last example I may adduce the following : 


(5) “Animal Parasites” (1876) p. 114. 
(*) “ Monograph of Oligochaeta ” (1895) p. 306. 


(7)A very similar case appears to be recorded in Journ. 
of Conch. v., pp. 66-7 (G. W. Shrubsole). 


BF 2 


I16 


on June 26th I collected a few Neritina fluviatilis 
from a rather quickly-flowing ditch near Oxford, 
and placed them in a small still pond here; on 
August 2nd the only one I could find was very 
extensively, though superficially, eroded, all the 
spotted colouration being removed. The species is 
notoriously adverse to quite still water, and difficult 
to keep alive during confinement. 

When a decalcified section of the shell of a bi- 
valve (1) is examined, the appearance presented 
immediately beneath the two layers of periostracum 
is of a number of irregularly angulated tubes with 
very thin walls, lying perpendicular to the surface 
of the shell, and it looks as if each prism of CaCO; 
in the outer layer were encased in a thin envelope 
of organic matter. And there is nothing which 
makes it impossible that these slender net-works 
should not permeate the whole shell—despite the 
denser construction of the nacreous layer—and join 
the periostracum to the adductor muscle. 
it will be seen how erosion may follow ill-health, 
and it is a matter of common observation that 
erosion often occurs in waters which are seriously 
contaminated with some impurity. At the same 
time I think that one other cause at least may act 
directly in removing the periostracum: the brilliant 
French researches referred to above have shown that 
various alge bore through the periostracum and 
right into the calcareous part of the shell in many 
marine and freshwater mollusca ; and the holes thus 
made may eventually lead to extensive erosion. 

Finally, to turn for a short time to terrestrial 
species: one of the most interesting forms of erosion 
here found is that consisting of spiral bands or 
grooves. This phenomenon is often seen in Tachea, 
and is very frequently post-mortem in character. 
Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell (?) drew attention to it some 
time ago, and stated that similar results could be 
obtained by treating the shell with dilute hydro- 
chloric acid. He failed to thus produce them in 
Tachea nemoralis, nor had he observed them in 
naturally-weathered shells of that species. They 
occur, however, in both T. nemoralis and T. hortensis. 
The bands arise, no doubt, from the fact that some 
spot in the secreting edge of the mantle, makes, so 
to speak, a periostracum of inferior quality, and 
that when the snail dies, the weathering action of 
the rain, etc., first removes this weak tract, which, 
from the nature of the case, follows a course “‘ cor- 
responding to the position of the bands on other 
shells.” These spiral bands, due either to erosion 
or to some distortion (*), occur in many species (#). 

The case of normally decollate species is very 
curious : Bulimus decollatus is, of course, the regular 


(1) I have chiefly used M. margaritifera. 
(?) “* Zoologist ” 1885, p. 114. 
(8) Probably of the prismatic layer. 


(*) A list is given by Mr. S. C. Cockerell in Journ. of 
Conch., iv., p. 374, to which other species might be added. 


Hence. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


example. Some genera, too (e.g., Cylindvilla), are 
normally decollate. A sort of parallel may perhaps 
be found in those freshwater species (e.g., Limnaea 
glabya) which are so very frequently badly eroded. 
Here the conclusion is forced upon us that the 
phenomenon must be in some way hereditary, 
though how it took its first origin is not very clear. 
The explanation that the upper whorls become 
disused, vacated and then absorbed, seems to have 
much to recommend it: if this view is correct, the 
case is not exactly parallel with ordinary erosion. 
Mr. B. Tomlin (*) has recorded some very interesting 
observations on Clausilia: he notices that those 
species which live in old walls, etc., get the project- 
ing parts of their shells weathered, eroded and 
decollated (e.g., C. rugosa, itala, parvula and flicata), 
whilst such species as C. rvolphii, which is essen- 
tially geophilous, and lives among dead leaves, etc., 
are never decollated. A similar principle might 
apply to many elongated forms. 
The Grange, Hereford ; August 24th. 1896. 


DEATH’S-HEAD MOTHS. 


je all the older lepidopterists know so well, 

nearly every year is celebrated for the 
exceptional occurrence of some particular butterfly 
or moth. This season seems likely to be known in 
England as a ‘‘ death’s-head ” year, for we hear of 
its having been taken in exceptional numLers in 
the caterpillar state throughout England and 
Ireland. We regret that we cannot find space in 
this number for all the records which have been 
sent to us, but the following extract from a letter, 
dated September 15th, received from Mr. Herbert 
A. Hole, of Harbury, Harcourt Road, Newark, 
may be considered typical: ‘‘ During the last 
six weeks, both the larve and pupz of Acherontia 
atvopos appear to have been exceptionally abundant 
in the town of Newark-on-Trent, and in one or two 
of the neighbouring villages. Unfortunately my 
business is such that it prohibits my making a 
personal search during the best hours of the day. 
Most of my workmen, however, have allotments, 
chiefly devoted to the culture of potatoes, and it is 
to their goodness, knowing I take an interest in 
entomology, that I am indebted for at least ten 
specimens of the chrysalis and caterpillars; several 
others have been brought to me for identification. 
Although for about seven years I have worked this 
immediate neighbourhood, I have never come across 
either the perfect insect or larva, This particular 
season it seems to be comparatively in abundance. 
Will anyone tell me in the next issue of your 
interesting paper if this is an unusual incident ?”’ 

Those persons who possess pupz will do well to 
force them at once with artificial heat. 


(5) Brit. Nat.i, pp. 


227-220. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


117 


ee ov ONC AU: Ae ON: 
By J. A. WHELDON. 


N the August number of SciENCE-GossiP, Mr. 
H. E. Griset, in an interesting and suggestive 
article, calls attention to the variation in the shape 
of the leaf lamina of plants. It is probable that 
the writer’s deduction, that ‘‘ excessive dampness 
favours the sub-division (or hinders the formation 
of the parenchyma) of the leaf-blade,’’ may be 
correct in the case of Ranunculus aquatilis, and other 


Hy 


Fig 4 


several species of Potamogeton. In some of the 
above, the leaf is reduced to the modified petiole 
only. 

Thus far I agree with Mr. Griset ; but I do not 
find in my experience that mere dampness of soil or 
atmosphere, as distinguished from total submersion, 
tends to hinder the expansion of the parenchyma. 
Indeed, I should imagine that such a moist en- 


INSTANCES oF LEAF VARIATION, 
Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, dandelion leaves; figs. 5 and 6, saw-wort leaves (all two-thirds natural size). 


plants which grow immersed in the water. In the 
species above-mentioned, I have observed the 
capillary leaves almost totally disappear, and only 
leaves of the floating palmate or partite kind be 
developed, when the water supply runs short in a 
dry season. 

Many other partially submerged aquatic plants 
exhibit diminution, or even total suppression, of 
the parenchymatous portion of such leaves as grow 
beneath the surface of the water, ¢e.g., Helosciadum 
inundatum, CEnanthe phellandvium, CE. fluviatilis, 
Callitriche, Alisma natans, Sagittaria sagittifolia, and 


vironment would rather encourage its expansion, 
and thus theoretically would lead one to expect 
that leaves growing under conditions of greatest 
moisture would exhibit the least tenuity of division. 
Take an example cited by the author of the article. 
The various species or sub-species of Taraxacum 
grow in a wide range of habitats. T. palustre, 
which usually inhabits the dampest places, has 
leaves exhibiting the greatest expansion of the 
blade; in the T. densleonis of the roadsides and 
fields they are more deeply cut, and the maximum 
amount of division is reached in T. erythrospermum, 


118 


which delights in the most arid situations. The 
same holds good in the case of the species of 
Nasturtium. In N. sylvestve, growing on the river 
bank, the leaves are often cut into narrow segments, 
but in N. officinale the leaf divisions are broader. 
Two forms of the latter plant occur, stfolium, which 
grows in damper places than microphyllum, having 
the leaf-segments much broader than those of its 
relative from drier situations. 

The same difference is markedly displayed in the 
case of Lathyrus macrorrhizus, and its variety 
tenutfolius. Many of the damp-loving saxifrages 
develop broad slightly divided leaves, but Saxifraga 
tridactylites, with its narrowly-cut leaves luxuriates 
on dry banks and walls. Other instances too 
numerous to mention will occur to most botanists ; 
at the same time, no doubt, exceptions occur in 
which the converse, as noticed by Mr. Griset, holds 
good. Perhaps the best method of demonstrating 
the effect of dryness and humidity would be to 
trace the vagaries of individuals of a single 
polymorphic species, such as Taraxacum officinale or 
Capsella bursa-pastoris, in various habitats; and if 
this was done, I venture to predict that ceteris 
paribus, those occupying the driest situations, would 
exhibit the least development of parenchyma. It 
is probable that other influences, such as the 
amount of light and shade, cold and heat, available 
plant food in the soil, and heredity, would have to 
be taken into account in any serious attempt to 


UNTOP EEE PORANEIS. IN 
By A. S. 


|i considering the question of the former 

occurrence of any species, too much stress 
cannot be laid on the imperfection of the geological 
record. Fossiliferous Pleistocene deposits are 
extremely rare in this country. We have no such 
well-developed beds as we have of the Cretaceous 
or the Eocene. On the contrary, they are always 
fragmentary, small patches, which by chance have 
escaped the enormous denudation which we know 
has occurred in, geologically speaking, recent 
times. Even when this danger has been escaped, 
the enclosed fossils are very often in such a 
fragmentary condition that the true specific 
determination is a matter of doubt. Though of 
small extent and rarely of any thickness, yet there 
is every reason to believe that these beds indicate 
a vast elapse of time. The complete series are 
probably represented in the Crayford beds, which 
are no more than a hundred feet thick. To the 
Malacologist they are of great importance, as in 
them are found for the first time many species of 
British Mollusca, while several which were then 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


determine the true reason of the remarkably diffe- 
rent shapes assumed by the leaves of individuals of 
certain species of plants. 

The large, slightly pinnatifid leaf of Taraxacum, 
illustrated by fig. 1, is from a damp ditch, and was 
growing almost in the water; fig. 2 represents 
leaves gathered from the dry summit of the 
embankment of the same ditch; and the third 
sketch is the leaf of a dandelion found at the foot 
of an adjacent wall, which was sheltered from the 
rain on two sides. Fig. 4 represents one of the 
delicately divided leaves of Taraxacum erythvo- 
spermum from the dry, barren sand-dunes of the 
Lancashire coast. An example afforded by a 
different genus is a leaf of Servatula tinctovia 
(fig. 5), which was collected on the river bank at 
Aysgarth (North Yorks). Contrasted with it is the 
leaf of an interesting small form of the same 
species (fig. 6), of which I have excellent specimens, 
collected on the Freshwater Downs by the late 
Captain Steuart. Although in this one matter I 
cannot quite agree with Mr. Griset’s observations, 
I must express my thanks to him for the pleasure 
I felt in the perusal of his very interesting bit of 
botanical “‘ gossip.”” It opens up an enticing line 
of study, one that can be followed amongst 
the common weeds accessible to the botanist 
whose lot, like mine, is cast in the suburbs of a 
large city. 

H. M. Prison, Liverpool, 


PLEISTOCENE TIMES. 


KENNARD. 


abundant are now quite extinct with us, though 
occurring on the Continent. 

Unio littovalis, Lamk., was first described as a 
British fossil by Mr. G. B. Sowerby, in 1838, from 
specimens in the collection of Professor J. Morris. 
There is apparently an error as to the exact locality 
from which these examples were obtained. In the 
list, the species is only noted as being found at 
Erith, but Grays is given against the figure. 
It certainly occurs in both places; but while it is 
abundant at Erith, it is extremely rare at Grays, 
so that in all probability the former is the correct 
locality. Since its first discovery it has been 
recorded from Crayford, Barnwell Abbey and 
Grantchester, near Cambridge, Clacton, Crop- 


thorne, near Evesham, Westminster, Ilford, — 
Brentford and near Walton-on-the-Naze. At 
Grays, as mentioned above, it is very rare. In 


1882, Mrs.S.V.Wood, jun., neted that although Unio 
tumidus, Retz, swarmed at this locality, he could 
never find U. littovalis, Lamk.; though Sir Charles 
Lyell sent his father some specimens of it, which 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


he had found many years before. There are in 
the Natural History Museum, two single valves 
and a pair of united ones, and Mr. Spurrell has a 
few fragments, and so far as I can ascertain these 
are the only remains known. At Crayford, on the 
other hand, it is fairly common, examples with the 
valves united being frequently met with. The best 
examples come from the brick earth, though it 
occasionally is to be found in the sand; young 
examples are very scarce. At Grantchester and 
Barnwell Abbey it was also common. The shells 
are rather narrower and not so thick as the Cray- 
ford specimens. Cropthorne, near Worcester, is 
one of the localities given by S. V. Wood in “‘ Crag 
Mollusca,” on the authority of Mr. H. C. Strick- 
land, and. there are specimens from this place 
preserved in the Museum of the Geological Society. 
During the excavations for the foundations of the 
new Admiralty offices at Spring Gardens, West- 
minster, a fine section of pleistocene beds was 
exposed, from which Mr. W. J. Lewis Abbott, 
F.G.S., obtained thirty-one species of Mollusca, and 
amongst them was Unio littovalis. Unfortunately, 
the only perfect example was destroyed, but a 
dorsal margin was preserved sufficient for identifica- 
tion, and Mr. Abbott adds that the destroyed 
example was of the Crayford type. The only 
record for Ilford was by Professor W. Boyd 
Dawkins, in 1867. No examples are known, so 
in all probability it is a printer’s error. The 
Brentford specimens were obtained by Mr. T. Belt 
from a spot near Avenue Road, Windmill Lane. 
Some of the examples had their valves united and 
are in the Natural History Museum. Clacton is 
another of S. V. Wood’s localities, and here the 
species was very common. This section is, how- 


11g 


ever, I believe, a thing of the past, the growth of 
the town having destroyed it. In the ‘ Essex 
Naturalist’ for 1894, is a list of Pleistocene 
Mollusca from Walton-on-the-Naze, and Unio 
littoralis is included. The examples in question 
were presented by the late Mr. John Brown, F.G.S., 
of Stanway, to the Chelmsford Museum, and on a 
printed slip it is stated that they were found “‘at a 
part of the Essex coast five miles southward of 
Walton-on-the-Naze.” If for five we read ten the 
locality would be Clacton, and there can be no 
doubt that this is another error for which the 
printer is responsible, and that Clacton is the true 
locality. In the Geological Society’s Museum is 
an example labelled ‘‘Stutton.”” This place is not 
to be confounded with Sutton, the well-known 
locality for coralline crag fossils. It is situate a 
few miles south-east of Ipswich, and was worked 
for many years by the late Mr. S. V. Wood, but he 
has never recorded this species. It is, of course, 
quite possible that the specimen is correctly marked, 
but it is better, perhaps, to mark it as doubtful. 

To sum up, of the places quoted as producing 
Unio littovalis eight are correct, viz.: Erith, 
Crayford, Clacton, Brentford, Crapthorne, West- 
minster, Grays, Barnwell and Grantchester; one 
is doubtful, Stutton; and two are errors, Ilford 
and Walton-on-the-Naze. Occurring as it does in 
localities so widely apart, there can be no doubt 
that it was in Pleistocene times a common and 
a widely-distributed species in this country. At 
the present time, though extinct with us, it is found 
in nearly all the rivers of France, and has been 
recorded from Sicily, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, and 
the Euphrates. 


Benenden, Mackenzte Road, Beckenham. 


UNS OQUUISGI Oe TaN, ID IRIN| Be 


By RosBERT GODFREY. 


URING a tour in Shetland last summer, I was 
exceedingly anxious to see the erne, or sea- 
eagle, in her native haunts, and, in my constant 
ramblings from place to place, ever made this bird 
one of my chief objects of enquiry. The natives 
appeared to be familiar with itas a spring migrant, 
and were generally able also to refer to one or 
more eyries reputed to be occupied by these birds. 
I was told of at least thirteen different eyries 
distributed amongst six islands, but, as a fair 
number of these were traditional, we may safely 
limit the number of existing eyries to six or seven. 
For several weeks I met with no success, being 
either prevented from reaching particular eyries at 
all, or finding those I did reach forsaken at the 
time of my visit. 


BS 


One morning in July I set out to examine a line 
of cliffs asserted to contain an eyrie, and, as by 
this time my prospects were being dimmed by the 
continually decreasing extent of the country still 
untraversed, I searched this rocky shore with the 
mingled feelings of fear and hope more deeply 
emphasised than hitherto. Following the zigzag 
course of cliffs is a slow proceeding, but the only 
sure one of discovering a rare and local species. I 
relied on noise to frighten up the more wary 
tenants of the cliffs, and regularly hurled down 
stones as I advanced. The cliffs were irregular 
with stony and grassy patches upon them, and 
were tenanted chiefly by herring-gulls and a few 
lesser blackbacks, with the inevitable shags. 
Other rock-frequenting species, as hooded-crow, 


120 


raven and rockpipit, were sparingly distributed, 
and at the rock base and off shore black guillemots, 
oyster-catchers and a single eiderdrake were 
observed. Cliff succeeded cliff with jagged edge 
and sheer descent, but in vain did I shout or roll 
down stones. Shags were resting on small rocky 
borders, or a raven would be scared, but the eagerly 
sought-for erne appeared not. Before and above 
a cliff away ahead of me the herring-gulls were in 
wild commotion, and with ever-increasing din were 
hailing my approach to their home. Presently an 
apparent rock, revealed for a moment by the tide, 
drew my attention off shore, but not again 
appearing at the regular motion of the tide made 
me suspect its nature; it proved to be a large 
porpoise, but it did not at succeeding blows rise so 
prominently into notice. On reaching the colony 
of herring-gulls, I rested on the grassy summit of 
a headland to watch their actions. Like huge 
snowflakes, rising and falling and twisting in and 
out amongst one another’s trackless paths, they 
heaved up and down, surging now this way 
now that, in front of the rocky precipice, and 
maintaining a ceaseless din not unpleasing to 
the ear, and suiting in its wild melody their 
terrible home. 

My attention was presently arrested by the 
tameness of a twite on the edge of the cliff, and I 
suspected its nest was at hand. The little bird, so 
graceful in appearance, and so alert in action, 
would seize one of the tiny flowerets of the sea- 
pink in its bill, and, lowering it to the ground, hold 
it in its foot and extract the seeds one by one, 
allowing the scales to fall away. Presently she 
flew to an adjoining fence, hemming in the head- 
land, and then disappeared for atime. I turned 
to watch the gulls again, and saw the young birds 
running along the ledges, and one more advanced 
than the others attempting flight. As I lay still 
I heard the merry noise of young birds being fed 
close at hand, and was so guided to the twite’s 
nest amongst the rocks just opposite the spot 
where I lay. But it was safe from my intrusion, 
placed on a shelf between two perpendicular slabs 
of rock, and sheltered behind a patch of silene. 
The five young birds were fully feathered, almost 
ready to fly, and they sat in a line, clamouring 
whilst their parent fed them. The old bird again 
resorted to the sea-pink, and took short flights from 
one jutting stone to another, but, instead of again 
feeding them, departed, to remain away during my 
stay, and the youngsters, after fidgeting on the 
edge, settled down in peace and quietness. On my 
departure, however, both twites were calling 
beside me. 

A long detour was necessary round the next 
cliffs, which from their lack of life failed in 
interest. A few gulls were about, a shag and a 
black guillemot were seen, and rock pipits, as 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


hitherto, were on the landward portion. The 
scenery, however, was made more impressive in 
the absence of anything to detract from it. 
Following this came a long point which might 
perhaps be passed without any loss, but it must not 
be omitted if we are to be able to say afterwards 
that we searched the shore carefully. The rocks 
in our immediate vicinity are not prepossessing, 
but as we move outwards a spot is reached where 
the grass-clad cliff sends forth a huge jutting 
boulder with a downward slope into the bank. 
This surely is the proper ground at last. I stand 
still on the crest a few moments, and clap my 
hands sharply several times, when from beneath 
my feet there issues at once a huge uncouth bird. 
It differed entirely from the picture I had before- 
hand formed, but it was the erne at last. From 
my position above her I am afforded a full view of 
her—stout white head, short white tail, brown 
body, black primaries—and as I watch her flying, 
with slow wide swoop of her mighty wings, I deem 
her a rough and rugged bird. She has left her 
home but a little way, when she is followed by 
a seagull, and another, and another. Her huge- 
ness now is apparent by contrast. With measured 
beat she flies back and forward in front of her 
home, unheeding the herring gulls that noisily 
swoop upon her in turn, and uttering her short cry 
several times. At length she comes landwards, 
sailing in for the cliffs, and as she passes in front 
of them her very ruggedness is beautiful. Deserted 
now by her screaming attendants, she flies along 
a gulley and disappears. 

I varied my standpoint to judge of the eyrie as 
fairly as possible, but I could not see the contents. 
The ledge she had left was well adapted as a 
perch for such a bird, and behind the masses of 
seapink a nestling eagle might easily have been 
resting unseen in the depression. I lingered by 
the cliff-head in indescribable delight at having 
attained my long-desired object, and then rambled 
off to raise the bird asecond time. I had mean- 
while, however, to be content with what I had 
seen of her, and a fortnight elapsed before I fell 
in with another erne. 


s 


46, Cumberland Street, Edinburgh. 


Duck KILLinG Birps.--A neighbour of mine 
living at Broad Green, Liverpool, has a large 
number of fowls, together with a few ducks. The 
family have been wondering at finding dead birds, 
mostly sparrows, in or near the trough containing 
water for the fowls. The other day the mystery 
was solved. One of the inmates on looking through 
a window saw a young duck, about three-parts 
grown, come waddling down the path and when 
it got near enough to the group of unsuspecting 
birds, it seized one of them in its beak and de- 
liberately took it to the water-trough and held it 
under the water until it was dead.—F. P. Marrat, 
13, Nursery Lane, Broad Green, Liverpool. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


TZ 


STRUCTURAL FEATURES IN AMERICAN ROTIFERA. 


By Dr. ALFRED C. STOKES. 


T HE following notes refer exclusively to certain 

structural points which seem to have been 
overlooked by other observers who have not 
had these particular species in circumstances so 
favourable as those in which they have presented 
themselves to the writer. 


BRACHIONUS BAKER], Ehr. 


In this country we have two forms of this 
well-known rotiferon, neither of which can claim 
even the dignity of a variety, as they differ from 
the type only in size, a common occurrence with 
the Rotifera in general, which, 
in regard to dimensions as 
well as to other more impor- 
tant characters, are among the 
most variable of microscopic 
creatures. The British animal 
is described in size as follows, 
in comparison with the two 
American forms of the same 
species: British form—length, 
gy inch; width, ;45 inch. © 
American form—length, 
inch; width, ;4, inch. Ameri- 
can form—length, ;3, inch; 
width, 54, inch. 

I have had both the American 
representatives appear in great 
numbers in an aquarium, fre- 
quently finding the small and 
the large forms on the slide 
at the same time; but while 
these do not vary in structure, 
I have observed with them one 
or two features not described as occurring with the 
species as known in England and elsewhere in 
Europe. 

Within the stomach, opposite the entrance of 
the cesophagus and apparently continuous with 
it, is an appendage previously undescribed and 
presumably not observed in any other rotiferon, 
except in certain American species (1). On ordinary 
occasions this organ appears to be a conspicuous 
membrane with a convex, free margin, the whole 
vibrating in horizontal undulations, and measuring 
about 5,45 inch in width. This apparently mem- 
brani-form appendage is perhaps more readily 
seen through the dorsal aspect and less easily 
through the ventral, but it is observable at all 
times, either actually or by its effects; even when 
the stomach is filled with food the undulations may 


(1) Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., July, 1896; Journ. Roy. Micr. 
Scc., June, 1896. 


Brachionus bakeri, Ehr. 


be indistinctly noted. After the rotiferon has 
been starved for several hours (for from thirty to 
thirty-four in this instance), the membrani-form 
aspect of the organ disappears, and it then seems 
to be elongate-fusiform in general contour, and to 
be attached by its extreme right-hand apex to the 
internal wall of the stomach, its optical form then 
simulating that of a three-fold spiral, or a three- 
bladed screw-propeller. That there could bea rigid, 
screw-like organ attached as described, and actually 
rotating on its long axis, as this then appears to 
do, is of course impossible. Such an appendage 
would soon twist all vitality 
out of its ligament, and speedily 
set itself free, to be digested 
with the other contents of the 
viscus. All these interesting 
and not inelegant appearances 
are illusory. The undulating 
organ exists, but it is net 
a membrane. To solve tke 
problem and leave no doubt 
in the observer’s mind is no 
easy microscopical task, but 
I can recommend it to those 
that have access to Brachionus 
bakervi as one worth struggling 
with. I can venture to say 
that before positively deciding 
as to the character of the 
appendage, the observer will 
arrive at several decisions to 
reject them all, and that he 
will at the first trial retire 
from the field discomfited, for 
the rotiferon will have the better of the contest. 
As the organ often seems to be finely striated, 
one decision will be that it is a broad band 
of delicate flagella extending across the front of 
the stomach, in close proximity to the entrance 
of the cesophagus, and undulating there, the 
transverse folds thus produced by the apparently 
synchronous movements of the pendent flagella 
simulating a membrane, and producing those 
optical illusions which the appendage offers freely 
even to the most patient observer. 

The organ is actually a tubular extension of the 
cesophagus, as may be seen, when, by great good 
fortune, the free extremity is lifted up so that 
the flattened lumen may be noted. It seems to be 
finely ciliated internally. The tube is homologous 
with that in the crop of Floscularia and in Apsilus, 
but it differs from these in being in constant and 
rapid motion. 


F 4 


————————= 


122 


The species is said to be common and widely 
spread in England, but if any description of this 
tubular appendage within the stomach has been 
published, it has not come under my notice. It is 
easily possible, however, that the effects of the 
rather conspicuous undulations may have been 
mistaken for vigorous action of the stomachal cilia. 

The Brachionus developed in so great abundance 
in asmall aquarium during the January and Feb- 
ruary of 1896 that they became visible to the naked 
eye as a whitish mist, and could be collected by a 
pipette and transferred to a watch-glass until the 
water became milky with them. The males were 
abundantly produced, and many females were 
carrying male eggs. 


COPEUS QUINQUELOBATUS (}). 


The two lateral canals meet in the posterior 
regions of the ventrum, and unite to form a short, 
common duct opening into the central portion of 
the contractile vesicle, which is apparently double 
but really single, the two lobes contracting and 
expanding simultaneously. The stomach bears an 
undulating, tubular appendage similar to that 
within Bvrachionus bakervi, the only differences 
being the shorter length and the fewer lateral 
undulations. I entirely failed to note this tube in 
the first few specimens seen, and therefore failed 
to include it in my description of the rotiferon. 
The appendage may therefore be more readily 
overlooked, especially when the stomach is gorged 
with food, than I had supposed. The colour of the 
body varies from a pale yellow to a yellowish-red, 
or almost the tint of the blood in certain Oligochzta. 
The tail and foot seem to be always colourless. 

The flabelliform flame-cells (‘‘vibratile tags”) 
are, in face view, marked by fine, radiating striz. 
In side view the internal flickering movements are 
seen to be produced by a narrowly ovate mem- 
brane, attached by the attenuated extremity to one 
of the antero-lateral angles of the cell, whence it 
extends obliquely across the cavity, undulating 
toward that branch of the lateral canal of which 
the flame-cell is the termination. The membrane 
is permanently twisted into a loose spiral, and each 
margin is apparently thickened into a. cord-like 
edge. It is these margins which produce the 
illusion of a double spiral as the undulations are 
longitudinally transmitted. In face view three 
semicircular cords are visible vibrating obliquely. 
When the flame-cell presents its frontal edge to the 
objective, it seems to show a slit-like fissure, 
widest centrally and narrowing towards each ex- 
tremity; yet this cleft may be illusory, as the 
tip-tilting of the cell is momentary only, and is, 
therefore, speedily gone out of focus, while the 
object itself is exceedingly minute. 

(To be continued.) 


(‘) Journ. Roy. Micr. Soc., June, 1896. 


SCIEN CE-GOSSIE. 


THE VALUE OF VARIATION. 
By Joun T. CARRINGTON. 


JES the amusingly flippant style of the ‘‘ Superior 

Scientist” ('), which unfortunately too often 
disfigures the pages of our otherwise respectable 
young contemporary, ‘‘ Natural Science,” is a short 
notice in the September number of that journal 
entitled ‘‘A Registry Office for Snails.” This 
style reminds one of the pomposity of that equally 
superior person the Honourable Mrs. Pedant, the 
vicaress in a country parsonage, when patronising 
her husband’s poorer parishioners. Our ‘‘ Superior 
Scientist ’’ refers to a recently-published label list, 
issued for the convenience of those who desire to 
investigate the range of variation in certain five- 
banded Helices occurring in Britain. The note is 
evidently penned by a ‘‘closet naturalist,’’ who 
depends for his information on published or 
unpublished lists, and is not experienced in these 
variable animals in the flesh. As only a small 
percentage of our readers will have had oppor- 
tunity of seeing his note, it may be well to set 
his remarks in review. He says: 


“The meaningless record of variations, mis- 
called ‘ varieties,’ seems to afford a kind of concho- 
logical small-beer to many collectors of shells. 
The bands on certain British shells are a source of 
never-failing delight to some; whilst all have one 
time or other had a turn at them. All appear 
equally ignorant of the fact that it has been fully 
done before by Sauveur (Ann.Soc. Mal. Belgique, ii.), 
who first drew up the scheme of the eighty-nine 
possible variations in five bands of Helix hortensis 
and H. nemorvalis. The latest venture in the 
undertaking is a ‘Label List’ by the editor of 
SciENcE-Gossip, Mr. J. T. Carrington, published 
at the cost of a penny, that should rejoice the 
heart of the zono-maniac. A page of introduction 
is followed by a list of named ‘ varieties’ (save the 
mark!) of Helix pomatia, H. nemoralis, and H. 
hortensis. The last four pages, printed on one side 
only, are devoted to a repetition of the names of 
the last two species, accompanied in each case by 
one of the band formule. 

‘« The worst of it is, that like the farmer with the 
claret, ‘no one seems to get any forrarder,’ and no 
systematic use seems to have been made of these 
tables. The only published account we know is 
that by Mr. A. Belt (‘Report, Ealing Micro. and 
Nat. Hist. Soc,’ 1892), who proved the existence of 
twenty-seven out of the eighty-nine possible vari- 
ations. We have also seen an unpublished record 
of thirty-three for the two species. 

“Nobody, unfortunately, has yet gone to the 
animal and endeavoured to show the origin and 
cause of these bands on the shell, and whether 
they have or have not any physiological bearing. 
The subject is being left to the variety mongers, 
whose goal must inevitably be a registry office for 
snails.”’ 


Before discussing this question further, I am 
sure the Editor of ‘‘ Natural Science ”’ will permit 
me to thank him for inserting the notice and the 

(1) I use this objectionable word in the sense indicated for 


it by Dr. Albert Ginther, F.R.S. (SciENcE-GossipP, N.S., 
vol. i., p. 242). 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. I 


opportunity it gives for making the following 
observations. 

With regard to the number of band variations 
according to the formulz which are above referred 
to as having already been observed, the writer 
mentions only thirty-three. Like ‘all’? who 
‘have at one time or another had a turn at them,” 
I have often noticed these variations casually, but 
it has only been for the past three seasons that I 
have given anything like systematic attention to 
the variation of H. nemoralis and H. hortensis, 
especially in regard to the band variation and 
its cause. During that time I have personally 
found no less than fifty-three different variations of 
the band formulz in those two species. So far, 
independently of a small quantity of unsorted 
material, not at hand as I write, which I 
believe contains one or two more, the numbers 
are forty-eight of H. nemorvalis and twenty-six 
of H. hortensis, many forms being common to 
each species. These I hope to describe in 
these pages on another occasion, with notes 
on their relative abundance or scarcity in the 
localities where I have searched for them. I may 
here mention, however, to show how much more 
one species is prone to variation of the formule, that 
in bands only, not combinations of bands, I so far 
find nemoralis has twenty-two forms, and hortensis 
only eleven, all the latter also occurring in 
nemoralis. Of combinations of bands by suffusion 
and otherwise, I have found twenty-nine variations 
in nemorvalis, and fifteen in hortensis. I have three 
forms in hortensis which have not been found by me 
in nemoralis. With regard to the relative amount 
of searching for each species, I have spent about 
an equal number of hours on each, and examined 
about equal numbers. 

In reference to the last paragraph above quoted, 
I may say that as far as has been practicable in 
the centre of London, I have reared to maturity 
both species from very young specimens, though 
not actually from eggs, with some remarkable 
results. I find I can by change of food and other 
means alter the band formula of an individual, I 
think I may say, at will. By that I mean particular 
bands will suddenly disappear or appear during 
growth of the shell. These experiments are, how- 
ever, at present too uncertain to describe without 
further experience. I believe that in the country, 
with proper conveniences, much is to be learned by 
actually breeding the varieties by pairing specimens 
which have been isolated from birth, up to the time 
of pairing. My opinion is confirmed by collecting : 
certain forms occur in certain localities each year 
and have only as yet been found by me in those 
localities, though I have worked many others. 

My plan in studying variation as exhibited in 
these two and their allied species—than which 
there are few animals in this country giving a 


i) 
Oo 


longer range of variation—is to find out as 
far as possible what does occur in a state of 
nature, and especially what does not occur. 
When we arrive at an approximation of the 
latter fact it will be necessary to enquire into 
the reason why such is the case. At present 
no one even seems to have given any sensible 
reason why these snail-shells have bands at all, 
better, perhaps, than—like the stripes on a tiger—to 
help to hide them in the grass. The first difficulty 
with the theory is, that when the animal is at rest 
or feeding, with few exceptions the natural posi- 
tion of the stripes on the shells is across the grass 
and not in the direction of its growth. 

Sometimes I am asked, ‘‘ Do you think it possible 
to get all the eighty-nine different band formulz ?’’ 
I can only reply that I think it is, when I have 
got so large a proportion myself, without outside 
aid, in three seasons, and without exchanging or 
gifts from others. My object in having this list 
printed, was, that I might send it round, for 
their local census, to the very few people in 
this country and on the Continent who collect 
these band forms, so as to try to get at some 
estimate of the missing forms. While so printing, 
it struck me that it might also be a label list; 
for nothing is more troublesome in this investiga- 
tion than having to turn out unlabelled series of 
band forms for reference. 

Nowhere do I claim to be the originator of the 
band formulz, as seems to be suggested in the note 
above quoted. I was perfectly acquainted with the 
article by Sauveur in the ‘‘ Annals of the Belgian 
Malacological Society ’’ published in 1867. By the 
way, our would-be corrector does not seem to know 
that Sauveur’s table quoted was not an original 
invention, but is an exact copy of one issued by 
Jules Colbeau, in December, 1859. The latter is 
apparently the first full table published setting 
forth the whole band formulze of these species. 
Albin Gras, in 1840, had theoretically worked it out 
by mathematical methods, and gave sixty-five 
instances, doubtless knowing the rest. He iden- 
tified the bands by the vowels a, e, 7,0, u. G. von 
Martens, in 1832, appears to have been the first 
who originated a formula which enables the band 
variations to be described on paper. We therefore 
find our ‘Superior Scientist’? as weak in his 
knowledge of the literature of the subject as of 
the animals themselves. 

I have had the pleasure of examining Mr. Belt’s 
list, and some others, but have not yet made an 
exhaustive search into such lists, in view of ascer- 
taining what additional forms have been recorded. 

With regard to the list of ‘‘ varieties,” I think I 
have ‘“‘saved the mark!’’ with H. nemoralis and 
H. hortensis ; for in the three seasons, I have found all 
of these with one or two exceptions, and many others, 
including some named by Mr. Cockerell, which 


124 


appear to me to be constant and good varieties. 
If the word “‘ variety ’ means a constantly-repeated 
form deviating from a recognized type, and so has 
received a name for identification, 1 presume our 
‘Superior Scientist’? knows what he means by 
‘saving the mark,”’ for few other people seem to 
understand him. 

I do not think it would become me to offer in 
these pages anything like an apology to the 
“Superior Scientists’’ for my small attempts to 
assist in unravelling such an intricate question as 
the cause of variation; nor for the ‘‘ meaningless 


‘record of variations, mis-called ‘ varieties,’”’ which 


‘afford a kind of small beer to many collectors.” 
I would, however, venture to remind them that out 
of such small beer has been built up the great 
theory of evolution and constant development or 
deterioration of every living plant and animal. It 
was from such evidence as this that the late Charles 
Darwin founded his book on the ‘‘ Origin of 
Species ’’; as evinced by his numerous references to 
such records. Could Mr. William Bateson have 
written his fine work on the ‘‘ Materials for the 
Study of Variation’’ without reference to records 
of others? Some of them were doubtless thought 
‘““meaningless” at the time of publication by the 
“Superior Scientists,” though when collated and 
discussed in conjunction with other records by a 
master in science like Mr. Bateson, these freaks 
assume a very different aspect. We have seen in 
our own life-time, and in this country, some types 
begin to vary, and continue to do so until the type 
we knew so well at first has become nearly lost, 
while the variety is now as common as our first- 
known type. I firmly believe that had Julius Cesar 
had a skilled naturalist attached to his expedition 
when heinvaded these islands, and that good Roman 
had remained to correctly describe our fauna, we 
should now puzzle over many of his descriptions. 
If such changes happen as we have ourselves 
seen to take place in our own short life-time, 
what might we not expect to have occurred 
in a couple of thousand years, during the 
progress from primeval forests to our present 
highly-cultivated and drained country. Our Roman 
naturalist would at the time have been accused of 
chronicling very small beer, but assuming his work 
to have been correct, its present value would have 
been inestimable. 

The chief danger of such remarks as those by 
the ‘‘Superior Scientist,’ is that the covert sneer 
contained in them may deter young naturalists 
from pursuing lines of thought and investiga- 
tion which are really unworked, and thus we get 
“no forrarder.” When I first commenced to 
collect lepidoptera in 1857, and for nearly thirty 
years: later, it was the custom of the ‘‘superior 
entomologist” to sneer at British butterflies and 
their collection. The effect was, for all that 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


time we depended almost entirely on foreigners 
for descriptions of their larve,and there was not to 
my knowledge a single person in Britain investiga- 
ting their life-histories, excepting Messrs. Hellins 
and Buckler, and then only for purposes of figuring 
the larve for a book. After Mr. Scudder’s really 
scientific work appeared on some North American 
butterflies, I never failed, as editor of the ‘‘ Entomo- 
logist’’ and privately, to point out our ignorance of 
our native species. It was I who urged Messrs. 
Hawes and Frohawk and others to take up the 
subject, with the result that a butterfly was added 
to our fauna, and there remains very few native 
species which have not been described and figured 
from the eggs, through all their stages, by English 
students, to whom the foreigners have now to turn. 

What does our ‘Superior Scientist’ desire? 
The extinction of the field-naturalist and the estab- 
lishment of the ‘closet’? micro-anatomist, whose 
first object appears to be to turn into a maniacal 
creator of new terminologies? If so, let him take to 
heart Mr. W. T. Thiselton Dyer’s observations made 
last year at Ipswich, before the Botanical Section 
of the British Association. The fact is, there is 
ample room for both the field-naturalist and the 
scientific biologist, neither of whom can afford to 
sneer at the other. Had it not been for the large 
number of the public who took a dilettantic 
interest in ‘‘ Natural History” as collectors, and 
the consequent pressure which after many years 
they indirectly brought to bear on public opinion, 
“the powers that be” of the Natural History 
Department of the British Museum might still 
have been housed in a basement in Bloomsbury, 
crying piteously for a new home at South Kensing- 
ton. We could point to others, students of less 
popular sciences, who now bewail the absence of 
Government help simply because there is an absence 
of popular interest in their particular studies. 

If our ‘‘ Superior Scientist’’ will favour us with 
his views on these questions more fully, he will 
find a courteous welcome to our pages ; and though 
I have had my tilt at him in return for his notice, 
he must understand I consider his remarks to be 
intended in all good nature. 


COLD AND HUNGER. 


ee (Gore and hungry” is a much-used phrase, 

but its full meaning has perhaps never 
before been properly understood; for we now learn 
that cold of a certain intensity can produce hunger 
of an extremely healthy description. The well- 
known M. Raoul Pictet, of Switzerland, was 
making experiments on a degree of cold con- 
siderably lower than any which occurs naturally 
on the globe, and he found that at temperatures 
between 110 and 150degrees below zero (Fahrenheit) 
no covering of any description such as is ordinarily 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


used for warmth would keep the cold out, or, more 
correctly, the warmth of the body in. The 
skin seems perfectly insensitive to the intense cold, 
so that one might be quite frozen to death without 
knowing it. This curious unconsciousness of the 
nervous system to a stimulus of an unusual kind 
can be easily paralleled in many other branches of 
physics; thus the extraordinary experiments of 
M. Nicola Tesla some few years ago, in which he 
passed a current of electricity of such intensity 
through his body that a hundredth part would 
in the usual way have been amply sufficient to 
kill him. This was, however, of an unusual 
kind, being what is known as a rapidly alter- 
nating current; that is to say, the direction of 
the current changes many thousand times in a 
second. To return to our freezing experiments. 
M. Pictet had a pit which was maintained at this 
extremely low temperature; he lowered himself 
into this, but naturally had an arrangement by 
which he could be quickly pulled out if necessary. 
After about four minutes he states that he ex- 
perienced a most intense feeling of hunger, he then 
came out, waited for some little time, and sub- 
sequently repeated the treatment several times. 
After each occasion he satisfied his hunger, without 
experiencing any of the extremely unpleasant 
results which had always followed before, as he 
severely suffered from indigestion. It was only 
after some little time and several freezings that he 
felt himself to be cured of this unpleasant ailment, 
but now he states that he feels anew man. It is 
to be hoped that the medical profession in this 
country will seriously consider these results and 
see if many sufferers cannot be cured in this very 
simple and pleasant manner. }f{ HF. HynpMAN. 
5, Denning Road, Hampstead. 


ULiLiry OF NAMES: 


] READ your article on the ‘‘ Utility of English 

Names" in the July ScrENcE-Gossip (ante 
p- 41), with much interest and feelings of sympathy 
with your protest against the unfortunate muddle 
into which we are drifting with the scientific names 
for our plants and animals. Nomenclature is 
coming to such a pass, that it is useless any longer 
to obtain the technical magazines devoted to 
botany, entomology, or zoology generally ; for one 
cannot follow the articles. They may be treating 
of some rarity or possibly only a common thing, 
for the identity is obscured by unfamiliar nomen- 
clature. Even the reports of societies in ScIENCE- 
Gossip have become nearly as useless, for it is 
impossible to follow them for the same reason. I 
feel sure other persons, like myself, who have for 
many years taken an active interest in several 
branches of Natural History, will, in consequence, 
cease to take in the modern literature of the sub- 


125 


jects. This is solely in consequence of what you 
rightly describe as a chaos of names being intro- 
duced, which render abortive the efforts of a life- 
time to become acquainted with our plants and 
animals. Like myself, there must be many persons 
who could not, as you rightly point out, on account 
of other occupations, continually re-learn the mul- 
titude of changed names that appear in every new 
book and magazine one picks up. 

I lately bought the last edition of the “‘ London 
Catalogue of British plants,” and in this is sad 
evidence of the misfortune of which we complain. 
In it well-known specific names are changed and 
genera classed under fresh orders. I looked for a 
plant which is fast becoming so plentiful as to posi- 
tively choke some of the ditches in the Thames 
Valley, the well-known naturalised Impatiens fulva. 
To begin with, in the last ‘‘ London Catalogue”’ there 
is no order Balsaminacee and no Impatiens fulva ; 
but I find under the order Geraniacezx, J. biflora, 
though there is nothing to indicate that it refers to 
the familiar I. fulua. In the same order is 
placed the genus Ovalis, which we had all learnt 
to honour as possessing its own order, Oxalidacee. 
Further instances can be readily given of a like 
character which renders this otherwise valuable 
list almost useless. The same remarks apply to 
other divisions of nature, until one becomes so 
discouraged as to feel like cutting the whole thing ; 
as there seems to be no finality to the worry. 

What I think is, that well-known and generally 
accepted names of any plants or animals should be 
continued until some recognized society or com- 
mittee of European celebrity decides that the time 
has come for the publication of a new standard list 
of nomenclature of the subject. No such list 
should be issued unless it is synonymic with the 
alteration to be accepted, if any, in distinct type at 
the top of the list of synonyms. 

If editors of scientific journals would make the 
rule of adhering to these recognized lists, and 
insisting on their contributors following them, or 
at least placing the name there accepted in 
brackets indicating any change from fhe list, 
the readers would be able to take their wonted 
interest in their pages, which pleasure is now 
denied to them. I have no desire to become so 
tenacious of my first-learned names as to deny the 
claims of others, if sanctioned by priority and 
more general agreement. What I do complain 
of is the absence of finality in their use 
by every irresponsible writer, who may, or may 
not, be mistaken in his opinions on nomenclature. 
Thus has arisen the chaotic muddle into which we 
have drifted. It will do an immensity of harm by 
disgusting many who might otherwise contribute 
items of knowledge of more than passing interest. 

S. ARTHUR SEWELL. 


Primrose Club, Park Place, St. James’, Lo ndon. 


126 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ARMATURE OF HELICOID LANDSHELLS. 


By G. K. GubsE, F.Z.S. 
(Continued from page 92.) 


is my last article, in speaking of Corilla humberti, 

I stated that only two specimens were known 
to me to exist in collections, and that these were 
in the possession of Dr. Brot, who described the 
shell. Since writing, however, Mr. Ponsonby has 
shown me a specimen, which, upon being opened, 
proved to pertain to that species, although it is 
considerably less rounded in outline. The palatal 
tooth corresponds in size and position to that 
in Dr. Brot’s shells, but the parietal fold extends 
much further back, a fact which confirms my 
surmise that this fold in the shell figured by 
Dr. Brot (and by me, fig. 11, ante p. 92) had 
been damaged in the 
cutting process. Colonel 
Beddome has informed 
me that he possesses 
three specimens of this 
species, which he has 
obligingly sent to me 
for inspection; one of 
these agrees with Mr. 
Ponsonby’s shell in 
being somewhat oblong, 
while the other two 
conform to Dr. Brot’s 
types as regards outline. 
The species certainly 
appears to be less rare 
than was at first supposed, and it may turn up in 
other collections. 

We have now dealt with Corilla charpentieri, C. 
Sryae, C. erronea, C. rivolii, C. odontophora, and C. 
humberti. The only other species of the genus at 
present known, are C. anax, Benson, and C. bed- 
domeae, Hanley. 

The two species last named, with which we are 
here concerned, form a separate group in the genus, 
and, from considerations which will be explained 
further on, may be looked upon as being the oldest 
members of the group provided with plates, Corilla 
charpentievi being the primordial form. This group 
of Corilla anax (including C. beddomeae), is of equal 
value to the group of Corilla erronea (including C. 
fryae, C. vivolii, C. odontophora and C. humberti) and 
to the remaining group of Corilla charpentieri. 

Covilla anax is shown in figs. 12a-e, the 
drawings having been made from a specimen in 
Mr. Ponsonby’s collection. It is the only species 
of Corilla known to occur outside Ceylon, being 
found, as already stated, in the southern part of 
India. It is of a dark chocolate colour, and 
possesses three parietal and four palatal plates. 


Fig. 12.—Corilla anax. 


Fig. 12a shows the entire shell, four of the plates, 
two parietal and two palatal, being visible from 
the aperture. The parietal plates are much 
broader than in the other species, No. 1 curves 
upwards, while No. 2 reaches as far as the 
parietal callus; but, unlike those of the other 
species, they are separate. No.3 parietal plate is 
almost horizontal, with but a slight curve, as will 
be seen on reference to fig. 12c, the specimen 
being there figured with the outer wall removed. 
Fig. 12d shows the same shell with part of the 
outer wall broken away, and the plates are shown 
as they appear from behind their inner termina- 
tions. The palatal 
plates also are seen to 
be much broader than 
in the other species, and 
the three upper ones 
are much more oblique, 
resembling in this re- 
spect the immature 
plates found by me in 
three of the other 
species. In fig. 12¢ a 
portion of the last whorl 
is drawn, in which the 
palatal plates Nos. 1, 2 
and 3 are shown as 
they appear through 
the shell, while fig. 12) shows the entire shell from 
below with palatal plates Nos. 3 and 4 shining 
through. Colonel Beddome has been so good as to 
lend me several adult examples of this species for 
examination, one of which is of interest from the 
fact that it exhibits, in addition to the mature arma- 
ture, immature plates which are identical in form 
and position with those I found in an adult shell 
of Corilla odontophora, and described in my previous 
article (ante p. 92). Withsthese adult examples 
was an immature shell with three whorls com- 
pleted, which is specially noteworthy in that it 
possesses two sets of immature plates, one near the 
end of the third whorl, and the other a little beyond 
the place where two and a-half whorls have been 
completed. It may therefore safely be inferred that 
the plates are not absorbed till after completion of 
the new ones, and it will be remembered that this is 
not an isolated case, for, as already stated, two sets of 
plates were observed by me in a full-grown speci- 
men of Corilla odontophova, and Colonel Beddome 
lent me a shell of this last-named species, identical 
in this respect. Colonel Beddome informs me 
that he collected his specimens of Covilla anax on 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


the Anamali Hills, in the Coimbatore District of 
South India, in moist woods, at 2,000 feet elevation, 
where it was very abundant on and under dead logs. 

Corilla beddomeae (figs. 13 and 14a-e), is, I be- 
lieve, somewhat rare in collections. Mr. Pilsbry 
has not included it in his synopsis of Corilla 
(‘‘ Manual of Conchology,”’ ix., p. 147), but, guided 
probably by its external characters, he refers 
it to the genus Plectopylis (see Errata, Index, 
p. 121, of the same work). The absence of 


Fig. 13.—Cortlla beddomeae, type. 


vertical or transverse barriers on the parietal 
wall, however, amply warrants its inclusion in the 
present genus. The species differs in appearance 
from the others in being wrinkled, thinner in 
texture and much flattened above. Fig. 13 shows 
the type from Haycock Mountain, Ceylon, the 
specimen being in Colonel Beddome’s collection. 
It will be noted that it is strongly and regularly 
wrinkled, the rugae being particularly coarse above 
and about the keel, gradually decreasing towards the 
base. The specimen measures twenty millimetres in 
diameter. In figs. 14a-e a small variety from Wata- 
wala, Ceylon, is shown from a specimen kindly lent 
by Mr. Ponsonby, who, with his usual courtesy, 


Fig. 14.—Corilla beddomeae, small variety. 


allowed me to open the shell, although it was his 
only specimen. It will be noticed that this variety 
is less coarsely wrinkled than the type; it is also 
paler and smaller, measuring only sixteen millimetres 
in diameter. Fig rye, which shows the shell with 
the outer wall broken away, discloses the fact that 
only two parietal plates are present, corresponding 
to Nos. 2 and 3 in those species possessing three 
plates; for the sake of uniformity they will be 
numbered 2 and 3; both are visible from the aper- 


127 


ture (see fig. 14h). No.2 reaches to the parietal 
callus, and, as will be observed, it is long and irregu- 
larly flexuous, while No. 3is very short. Of the four 
palatal plates Nos. x and 2 only are visible from the 
aperture. Nos. 1, 2 and 3, are broad, and ascend 
obliquely, parallel to each other, while No. 4 is 
smaller, narrower, and revolves horizontally, paral- 
lel to the suture, as may be seen on reference to 
fig. 14c, which shows plates Nos. 1, 2 and 3 shining 
through, and fig. rgd, which shows Nos. 2, 3 and 4. 
Fig. 14a shows all six 
plates from behind their 
inner terminations. 


Colonel Beddome has 
also favoured me with 
the loan of specimens of 
a shell sent out by Mr. H. 
Nevill, under the name 
of Corilla hinidunensis, and 
published by him without description in ‘‘ Enume- 
ratio Heliceorum et Pneumonopomorum insulae 
Ceylon adhuc detectorum”’ (1871), p. 1. Mr. 
Pilsbry, in figuring this form in the ninth volume 
of the ‘‘Manual of Conchology,” p. 148, t. 41, 
ff. 23-25, has, with his usual discrimination, reduced 
it to a variety of Corilla charpentieri, Pfeiffer, and a 
careful comparison of the two forms has convinced 
me that this view is the correct one, as the 
only difference which could be detected is that 
of size, Corilla charpentieyi measuring twenty- 
nine millimetres, and Nevill’s Covilla hinidunensis 
twenty-two millimetres. To complete the series 
I have thought it useful to add a figure of 


Fig. 15.—Corilla charpentiert, 
var. hinidunensts. 


Fig. 16.—Corilla erronea, var. erronella, 


this shell (fig. 15), which must now be known as 
Corilla charpentievi, var. hinidunensis. 

Since dealing with the group of Corilla erronea, 
Colonel Beddome has communicated to me 
another form, known only by the unique specimen 
which he received under the manuscript name of 
Helix ervonella, Nevill (Ceylon). As manuscript 
names are a source of great trouble, I am pleased 
to have the opportunity of studying and figuring 


128 


this form (figs. 16 a-d). On comparing it with 
Corilla evvonea, it is at once noticeable that it has 
great affinity with that species; it is, in all 
probability, only a well-marked variety of it, and 
as it is known only from the single specimen it 
would certainly be imprudent to accord it higher 
than varietal rank. It possesses the same number 
of plates, but the shell is much smaller and 
thinner, and the palatal plates are much shorter 
and placed much nearer the mouth of the 
shell. The outer terminations of the parietal 
plates and the whole of the three upper palatal 
plates are visible from the aperture (see fig. 16a) ; 
palatal plate No. 3, which in Corilla eryonea is 
nearly horizontal, is-here strongly oblique and 
ascending, while No. 4 reaches nearly to the 
peristome (see fig. 16c). The form must be known 
provisionally as Covilla evvonea, var. ervvonella. 

All the known forms of Corilla fall naturally into 


Ahoursentier 


DIAGRAM OF RELATIONSHIP OF CORILLA. 


the three groups of C. charpentieri, C. anax and C. 
evvonea, already indicated. The first group, that of 
Corilla charpentieri (including the var. hinidunen- 
sis), is without internal plates; the second, that of 
Corilla anax (including the two forms of C. 
beddomeae), has oblique palatal plates; and the 
third, that of Covilla ervonea (including the rest of 
the genus), has horizontal palatal plates. It will 
be remembered that the structure of the armature 
in young shells differs in a remarkable degree from 
that found in full-grown specimens. I have 
pointed out that in the former case the plates are 
invariably broad and obliquely slanting upwards 
(see ante pp.go and or), while in the latter case they 
are, in some species at least, narrow and horizontal. 
From what we know of the retention of ancestral 
characters in young individuals, as explained by 
Mr. Darwin (‘‘Origin of Species,” sixth edition, 
p. 388), it may safely be assumed that the 
immature form of plates found in the young shells 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


represents the form of plates which were possessed 
by the progenitors from which the existing armed 
members of the genus have sprung. Consequently, 
those species which have to some extent retained 
such characters in the adult state (i.e. Covilla anax 
and C. beddomeae) are the older forms; while those 
species which diverged most in the adult state 
(7.e. the group of Corilla evvonea) are of more 
recent origin. Assuming that the prototype which 
gave rise to the armed forms was devoid of arma- 
ture, the Corilla charpentieri group would represent 
the oldest forms of all, while Covilla beddomeae and 
C. anax would come next in the line of descent in 
one direction; C. humberti still later, but in another 
direction ; next C. odontophora, C. erronea and C. 
vivolii would appear to have branched off in 
separate directions ; and lastly, C. evvonella and C. 
fryae have diverged from the common stock. As it 
is extremely difficult to indicate the true relation- 
ship between any given group of species in a linear 
arrangement, I have attempted to overcome this 
difficulty in the accompanying diagram. It will, 
of course, be understood that this has reference to 
conchological characters only. 
I append a key to the species of Covilla which I 
venture to hope will prove serviceable: 
A. Shell without internal folds. 
a. Shell large, diameter 29 mm. charpentiert. 
b. Shell smaller, diameter 22 mm. 
v. hinidunensis. 
B. Shell with internal folds. 
a. Palatal folds oblique. 
a. Two parietal folds . 
B. Three parietal folds 
b. Palatal folds horizontal. 
a. One parietal fold 
B. Two parietal folds . 
y. Three parietal folds. 
* Shell elliptic, palatal folds short, 
second scarcely curved. 


beddomeae. 
anax. 


. humberti. 
. odontophora. 


+ Lip much reflected . . rivolit. 
tt} Lip little reflected. 
1. Third palatal fold, 
almost horizontal . evvoned. 
2. Folds véry short, nearer 


aperture, third palatal fold 
very oblique, ascending ~ 
v. evvonella. 
** Shell rounded, palatal 
folds longer, second 
much curved Sn ae. 
In concluding the consideration of the genus 
Corilla, I take the opportunity of expressing my 
grateful thanks to Mr. John Ponsonby, Colonel 
Beddome and Dr. Brot, for their kind and liberal 
assistance with specimens and information, and 
to Lieut.-Colonel Godwin-Austin for valuable 
information and suggestions. 
(To be continued.) 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 129 


MEICAY NEI eS) ACNE S; 


By Gero. BaruHam. 


[2 was with great interest that I read Mr. 

Martin’s notes (ante p. 54) entitled ‘‘ Thanet 
Sands,” in the neighbourhood of Herne Bay and 
Reculvers, as I was for some few years resident 
in that district, and rather closely studied its 
historical and geological features. The latter 
portion of his notes is the part to which I wish to 
refer; as I am very much afraid that his theory of 
the rising of the land is untenable. Neither do I 
quite see how, if accepted, it explains any of the 
difficulties presenting themselves to the student. 
Take for example Bishopstone Dell; as near as I 
can recollect, this runs back for even less than a 
quarter of a mile inland; and the depth of the 
gully is fairly estimated at fifty feet. It runs down 
to the beach or sea-level. If the land had risen 
from that level one foot, two feet, or fifty feet, 
how would it have aided the cutting out of this 
declivity ? Such a process must have been gradual, 
and its effect would simply have been to convert 
the tiny stream into a small waterfall on the old 
sea coast, and consequently start a cutting-back of 
the soil as is noticed at Niagara. It is fairly 
proved that the land has, just there, been ‘‘ eaten ”’ 
by the sea; so that by this time all traces of our 
waterfall would have vanished and the position 
with regard to the big gradient of fifty feet in a 
quarter of a mile would be the same. No, during 
our investigation there, so far from imagining a 
rise, I and my father have been, at times, com- 
pelled to theorize about a sinking of the land in 
the patch of country bounded by the river and sea 
from Faversham to Birchington, and for an average 
of five to six milesinland. Yet your correspondent, 
by travelling up to Whitstable, and looking at the 
marshes, and watching the sea coast at low tide off 
Graveney, might well be excused for building up 
his theory. Land only two or three inches at most 
above sea level, strong sea walls to keep out the 
tides—resembling those on the coast of Holland— 
tide going out from two to three miles, according to 
the wind, may well combine together to almost 
force one into belief in the rising-land idea. 

The closing up of the estuary of the Swale 
could be easily made to occur by simply allowing 
nature to take her course, and without altering 
the level of the county in the least, by simply 
removing the ‘jetties’ or timber baulks running 
down the beach from land to sea, which man has 
placed at every few yards along the coast from 
Whitstable to Beltinge. The two big rivers, Thames 
and Medway, flow into the sea near here, and 
the tiny little Swale comes southward round the 


Isle of Sheppey. The back eddy or wash of these 
first-named rivers, aided by the setting of the tide 
from the German Ocean, forces the waters every 
tide up to the Swale, carrying with them shingle, 
sand and ocean refuse of every description, which 
is left in the sea bottom, between Shellness and 
Harty Ferry, on the Isle of Sheppey, and 
Whitstable on the main coast. Reculvers and 
Herne Bay being at the mouth of this swirling 
eddy, are robbed every tide of sand and clay, 
which is carried westward, assisting in the silting 
up of the Swale. 

Owing to this carrying of débris and the 
existence of the small, practically unimportant 
Swale, a possibly unique thing has happened, 
which causes the local geologists—who are almost 
all ‘‘land-risers '’"—to triumphantly smile at the 
folly of us who cannot see as they do. I allude to 
Whitstable ‘Street.’ This is a narrow belt of 
shingle, mud gravel and refuse running for from 
three to five miles into the sea, and almost 
bare at low water. At its extreme end, enormous 
quantities of Roman pottery are found —of 
which, I may add in parenthesis, the finest 
collection in England belongs to my father, and 
the next to Liverpool Museum—in various states 
of preservation. This ‘‘ Street” they say is a 
gradual rising of the sea bottom, because it is 
growing wider and more shallow in historical 
times. It is not, in the sense they mean, neither is 
it the ‘‘remains” of a tongue of land stretching 
into the sea, although it is beyond coubt that even 
in Roman times the coast-line was four or five 
miles farther out. It is merely a very quiet, 
business-like, easy-going ‘‘bar,” caused by the 
current from the little Swale meeting the afore- 
mentioned tides. So far from the land having risen, 
it has, if anything, gradually sunk. That it has 
actually sunk in places I have direct proof, but as I 
am not writing a geology of North-east Kent, I will 
not trespass on your space so far as to dilate upon 
that. Let Mr. Martin go to the coast between 
Whitstable (Swalecliffe) and Hampton, and see a 
tiny little stream there, running a few miles inland, 
and measure the old river-bed that he will find 
there, having an average depth of twelve feet and 
a width of nearly a quarter of a mile. Ifhe does, 
and also searches in that river-drift, wherein he 
will find many quaint and curious things, he will 
probably find a more simple explanation of the 
peculiar Bishopstone Dell than the land-rising 
theory. 

9, Ruskin Street Notting ham. 


130 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


CHAPTERS FOR YOUNG WATDRALIS®S: 


(Continued from page 65.) 


SPEED OF SOLAR PLANETS. 


By Cyrit Carr. 


[Ree the Earth does not appear to us to 
move, we might suppose it to be fixed in 
space, and that the stars, sun and moon move 


round it, as thought the astronomers of ancient 


times. As we cannot see the whole of the world 
at once, it was in those days a very difficult matter 
toprove. The apparent movement of the constella- 
tion of the Great Bear, always visible in the north- 
ern sky on clear nights, served as the key to the 
mystefy. By watching it revolving every twenty- 
four hours, a suggestion of the spherical form 
of the Earth was obtained. This observation, 
followed up by thoughtful philosophers, told us of 
the Earth’s rotundity. 

Our own planetary rotation appears to be slow, 
but in reality it deceives us. In order to make 
the reason more clear, I will illustrate it by simple 
methods that will indicate the true velocity in the 
rotation of the Earth and the planets. 

Suppose a high post be placed in the ground on 
the equator, pointing upwards a little below the 
brilliant star Regulus, in the zodiacal constellation 
Leo, in order to mark a spot from which we are to 
start in a railway train at arate of sixty miles an 
hour, and dash along the equator right round the 
earth. Suppose again, we leave the appointed 
place on January ist, and travel along without 
stopping, we shall not arrive back from our trip 
round the world until the 18th, making eighteen 
days on the journey. The starting-post turns 
away as the earth turns round, and passes all 
through the zodiac till it arrives back in a little 
less than twenty-four hours. That is to say, this 
post, in twenty-four hours, has moved with one 
spin of the Earth entirely round the equator, a 
distance of about 25,000 miles, at a speed of more 
than 1,000 miles per hour, while the train takes 
eighteen days to go over the same distance. So 
the Earth spins round at a rate more than fifteen 
times greater than that of the fastest train. 

We will imagine the train now moves along the 
same railway-line from east to west, in the direc- 
tion that the stars apparently move across the sky; 
and, as we go, we look through a window in the 
roof of our carriage at the star Regulus, for the 
purpose of watching the difference between the 
velocities of the train and of Regulus. We will 
mark the position of the star by a spot on the 
window, and then carefully look at the star after 
some hours. We shall see that it seemingly travels 
faster than the train, and sinks below the western 


horizon, disappearing from view directly ahead of 
us; then, after about eighteen hours, Regulus 
re-appears in sight behind us, above the eastern 
horizon, and arrives overhead again in about seven 
hours. Yet the train has not gone round the world, 
but has only covered about 1,440 miles in this time. 

Let us imagine a gigantic spear could be sus- 
pended from the sky with its point downwards 
towards London. Now what would become of the 
spear supposing it were not instantly burnt up by 
friction of the passing air? The inhabitants of 
London would be thrown into great excitement 
by hearing the sound of some awful roaring 
noise over the capital as the spear rushed through 
the Earth’s atmosphere. Immediately they would 
run out and look up at the sky, but would 
see nothing, as the spear-point would have 
passed miles away in a second. If the spear 
remained in position for several days, it would 
flash across London, from east to west once 
every twenty-four hours, showing only the faintest 
streak in the sky. This should serve to illustrate 
the velocity of the Earth’s rotation, which is some- 
thing like 1,040 miles an hour at the equator. 
Now, if we could imagine the same experiment 
occurring in Saturn or Jupiter, as the spear-point 
flashed across the sky, the faint streak observable 
there would be very much finer than on Earth, and 
nearly invisible. The velocity of Saturn’s rotation 
at the equator is known to be about 22,500 miles 
an hour, or about twenty-two times quicker than 
that of the Earth, for Saturn is a much larger body 
than the Earth, and yet revolves on its axis much 
more rapidly. As to the same occurrence in 
Jupiter, the flash of the spear-point across the sky, 
would be invisible, as the velocity of this planet’s 
rotation at the equator is 28,000 miles an hour. 

There is also another kind of motion possessed 
by our planet, which is its onward journey round 
the sun. We should obtain a very good idea of 
this if we were to imagine ourselves lifted out of the 
world into space by a gigantic man, in whose hand 
we could rest in a fixed position. Then, to our 
great surprise, the Earth would at once rush off 
with fearful rapidity and would be over eighteen 
miles away from us in a second, or about 67,000 
miles an hour. This illustrates the yearly orbit of 
our planet round the sun. When we remember 
that the sun also is moving and bearing the Earth 
and other planets with it, we see that they really 
travel in a spiral course through space. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 131 


We know that all the stars in the celestial dome 
seem, to the naked eye, fixed in their position, 
except those distinguished from the others as 
planets, which are wandering through the heavens 
on their yearly journey round thesun. Exceedingly 
careful astronomical observations and measure- 
ments taken by the most accurate instruments, 
have shown that the stars make extremely minute 
movements on the face of the sky. Supposing 
we were living for a thousand years, we might 
be able to notice a very slight alteration of 
position of some fixed stars in the sky, which 
would, in reality, represent many millions of 
millions of miles journey of those stars during 
that time. One of the brightest fixed stars, 
Arcturus, possesses the marvellous velocity of 
fifty-four miles a second, but their vast distance 
from our solar system makes their motion seem so 
small. This can be illustrated more plainly. It is 
well-known to everybody that when we look out 
of the window of an express train in motion at 
telegraph posts and then at distant trees, the 
former will pass the window very quickly on 
account of their nearness to us, but the trees, 
which are several miles away from the train, 
appear to pass only very slowly, because of their 
long distance away. It is quite the same with the 
stars in the sky, only there we deal with distances 
far more immense. 

42, Southbourne Road, Sheffield. 


Saw SHES) OLE NING 
OVS ES: 


ey the part recently issued of the ‘“ Journal of the 

Marine Biological Association of the United 
Kingdom” (vol. iv., No. 3), is an illustrated article 
by Dr. Paulus Schiemenz, which settles the long- 
discussed question whether starfish really open 
oysters. After reviewing what has already been 
written on the subject, Dr. Schiemenz clearly 
shows that the mild and harmless-looking ‘‘ five- 
finger’’ is really a desperate marauder, who, by 
force and persistence, makes the timid oyster 
yield to his voracious appetite. Should the prey 
resist the attack of Astervias, but open his shell 
ever so small a space, the starfish coolly inserts its 
own stomach between the oyster-shells and absorbs 
all the juices and digestible substances. 

In conclusion of his most interesting article, 
which shows by experiments how the starfishes 
effect their entry into the oysters and other bivalve 
marine mollusca, the author advises the oyster- 
culturists to destroy every star-fish they can find 
in their oyster-parks. It is not sufficient to tear 
them asunder, for the pieces have the power not 
only of continuing to live, but of developing new 
limbs, so that the process of apparent destruction 
only increases their numbers. 


A MOTH NEW TO BRITAIN. 


CALOPHASIA PLATYPTERA, Esp 


OX the 14th of September, when examining 

land-shells on the Sussex coast, between 
three and four miles west from Brighton, I observed 
a greyish-looking noctua at rest in a rough hedge. 
Being quite unprepared for insect collecting, I had 
no box, but seeing at once that it was something 
new to our fauna, I marked the place and started 
off to the nearest village to get one. I had not, 
however, gone far before I found an empty chip 
match box, into which, with some little trouble, the 
capture was safely placed. There it remained 
until the next afternoon, when I had the pleasure 
of handing it over to my friend, Mr. C. A. Briggs, 
to add to his brother’s collection. Whilst Mr. 
Briggs was transferring the novelty from the 
match-box to a glass-topped box in my room at 
Northumberland Avenue, the moth escaped, and 
nearly disappeared through the open window. 
Again it was secured and eventually killed, and set 
out by Mr. Briggs. 

Next month I propose to describe it fully after 
drying and removal from the setting-board. Suffi- 
cient now to say that I find our new addition 
is a member of the genus Calophasia and I feel 
pretty sure it is C. platyptera, of Esper, but this 
opinion has to be confirmed by comparison when the 
specimen is dry. This genus is allied to Cucullia, 
and my capture is like a little ‘‘shark”” moth of 
light greyish colour. 

The range of C. flatyptera is mid- and south- 
European. Its time of appearance is given as 
varying from June in the extreme south, including 
Asia Minor, to August further north. The larve 
feed on, among other plants, common toad-flax and 
its ‘allies. My specimen was, when found by me, 
as fine in condition as though only just emerged 
from its pupa, and it fortunately was not injured by 
its various adventures. 

The locality of its capture adjoins rough fields, 
which have been allowed to run wild, and where 
brick-making is going on. I believe the species 
only requires working for by those who desire 


to get a series. 
Joun T. CarrinctTon. 


ABNORMAL VEGETABLE-MARROW.—A remarkable 
instance of the fusion of a branch of the parent 
stem with the fruit of a vegetable-marrow has 
occurred in our garden. The branch was ap- 
parently resting along the fruit in question when, 
instead of pushing the branch away, the fruit 
commenced to absorb it, growing over the sides 
until the stem was in places covered with the fleshy 
part; while all along its length, for about fifteen 
inches, it was firmly attached to the ‘‘ marrow,” 
from which in one place flowers, both male and 
female, were growing.—C. A. Briggs, Leatherhead, 
Surrey ; September, 1896. 


A New SEAWEED.—It was announced at the 
meeting of August 6th, of the Dublin Microscopical 
Club, as reported in the September “Irish 
Naturalist,” that Asperococcus compressus had been 
dredged off Go Island, co. Donegal, by Miss R. 
Hensman and Professor T. Johnson. This brown 
alga is an addition to the marine flora of Ireland. 
Being a southern type, its occurrence so far north 


isremarkable. A microscopic section was exhibited 
at the meeting. 
PoruLsar Microscopy.—The influence of a 


popularly written article on any subject has 
seldom been more clearly shown than in the results 
of one on “‘ The Microscope,” which appeared in a 
recent number of the “‘ Strand Magazine.” The 
writer gave some amusing instances of the pleasures 
to be obtained from the use of theinsirument. We 
hear from the manager of the firm of makers of 
microscopes and their accessories whose name was 
incidentally mentioned in the article, that since iis 
appearance their staff has been occupied in clearing 
off orders traceable io readers of that magazine. 

Mountine Mzpium.—Could you tell me through 
your valuable paper what is the very best medium 
that you know for mounting desmids, alge, etc., in, 
so that the original colour may be definitely and 
permanently retained ?—R. Trist Searell, Christ- 
church, New Zealand. 

[Mounting medium.—Acetate of copper solution is 


the best medium for mounting desmids and ail 
green alex. 
Acetate of Copper I5 grains 
Camphor Water .. : 8 ounces 
Glycerine .. -- 8 ounces 
Glacial acetic acid -. 20drops 
Corrosive Sublimate se I grain 


The above solution can be used as a preserving 
and mounting fluid. It keeps the colour of green 
chlorophyll perfectly. Mount in a shallow cell of 
vulcanite. Metal cells must not be used. When 
the specimens are very delicate, leave out the 
glycerine.—Martin Cole.| 

Hyeroscopic Hatrs oF Wood-rusHES.—The 
curiously energetic movements of the elaters of 
the spores of horsetails (Eguiscium), when gently 
breathed upon, are probably familiar to all users of 
the microscope; also, the similar movements of 
the teeth of the peristome of the capsules of mosses. 
In these cases it is not difficult to see that the 
hygroscopic movements of ithe organs in question 
are of great importance to the plants concerned. 
Hygroscopic movemenis take place among the 
hairs of wood-rushes (Luzula), where, however, it 
is not easy to say of what use these movements are 
to the plants that exhibit them. If a portion of a 
living or dried wood-rush is taken, and the breath 
gently falls upon the hairs clothing the stems and 
leaves, these are immediately violently agitated, 
and twist and writhe in all directions. So ener- 
getic are these movemenis that they continue 
sometimes for two or three minutes after the dis- 
turbing cause has ceased —C. E JBriiion, 180, 
Beresford Street, Camberwell. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


"f) 


Vw 


NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 

Plants of Manitoba. Forty coloured plates of flower- 
ing “isnt to inches by 7 inches, in portfolio. 
(Belfast, London and New York: Marcus Ward 


and Gos Limited, 1896.) Price tos. 6d. 


This portfolio contains forty beautiful examples 
of the colour printing for which the publishers are 
so jusily celebrated. Itis a great pity there is no 
letterpress explaining the planis. or even the artist’s 
name. They are admirably drawn and, with one 
or two exceptions, the colouring is most life-like. 
For instance, the wild bergamot (Monarda jisiulosa) 
should be rather darker and richer in colour of the 
flower, for it is the variety mollis of this species 
which occurs in Manitoba. This plant, by the way, 
is, we think, more generally knownas ‘‘ Oswego tea.”’ 
The flowers of the fringed geniian (Geniiana 
cristaia) should be a much richer blue. The plaie 
of golden-rod (Solidago serotina) is admirable, and 
reflects the highest credit on both artist and colour- 
printers. Nearly as successful is the drawing of 
the wild rose (Rosa blanda, var. setigera), which, 
by the way, is hardly the wild rose of Manitoba 
prairies, where the type is R. arkansana. Ii occurs 
in magnificent profusion, even to becoming one of 
the farmers’ troublesome corn-weeds. Among the 
illustrations are two of the Russian thistle in 
its green and autumnal states. This plant, our 
familiar sea-side denizen Salsola ali, is native to 
Canadian and North-American shores. It is the 
Eastern variety fragus that has been introduced by 
Russian immigranis, and has not only become 
colonised and improved, like its introducers, but 
unlike them, has grown to be a curse to some of 
the more northern of the United States, such as 
North and South Dakota, where ithe soil is alkaline. 
So far it has not done much harm in Manitoba, 
where it does not appear to thrive so well as in the 
States south of that province. Of course, a collection 
oi forty plates gives but a small idea of the mag- 
nificence and abundance of the flora of the prairie 
province of Manitoba, where, from early spring to 
late autumn, there is a succession of fowersin such 
profusion as often to brilliantly light up the 
landscape with blues or yellows in rich patches of 
colour. As an example of fhe number of species to 
be found there, in one month—September, 1894— 
the writer gathered, while assisting a friend, no less 
than 360 species of flowers in bloom. Those now 
under notice were collected in an earlier month of 
the summer, when many more species dower, 
though they contain several which were found with 
late, or second flowering, in September. The 
Canadian Government and the Canadian Pacific 
Railway Company would do well to exhibit this 
handsome little portiolio among the inducements 
to settlers, who cannot fail to think the land which 
produces these flowers must grow other crops for 
their benefit. We hope the publishers of this 
portfolio will receive sufficient support by its sale 
to induce them to publish a further series, when 
letterpress descriptions and title-page might be 
issued for both series. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Missouri Botanical Garden: Seventh Annual Report. 
209 pp. royal 8vo, and 66 plates. (St. Louis, 
Mo.: published by the Trustees, 1896.) 

We have on former occasions had the pleasure 
of noticing these annual reports, which are so 
beautifully produced. The plates are American, 
and we must therefore conclude, admirable, from 
the artistic and mechanical points of view. The 
frontispiece, which represents a plant of the “ edel- 
weiss’? growing in a rockery in the gardens, is a 
charming piece of photographic reproduction. The 
cost of maintaining these gardens is considerable, 
for we find by a statement of accounts for the year, 
the expenditure reached over £17,000. There are 
several important papers in this Report, including 
one by Mr. William Trelease on ‘‘ The Juglandacez 
of the United States," which is illustrated by twenty- 
five plates of the native hickory trees, which are 
allied to the walnuts. There is also an important 
paper by A. Isabel Mulford, entitled ‘‘A Study of 
the Agaves of the United States’? with a number 
of artistic photographs on thirty-seven plates. 
These remarkable plants thrive largely in the arid 
tracts of desert north of and including Mexico. 
Some species are of much economic value, and were 
used even in Aztec times. They produce a fibre 
from the leaves, which is worked much as hempen 
fibre, and used for like purposes. At least one 
species is now cultivated for this reason, and 
efforts are being made to introduce the fibre as a 
commercial staple; plantations of one species, A. 
vigida, var. sisalana, having been formed in Southern 
Florida and the Bahamas. This Report contains 
other papers and notes of value. 


The X Rays. By ARTHUR THORNTON, M.A. 


63 pp. foolscap 8vo, with 26 illustrations. (London 


and Bradford: Percy Lund and Co., Limited, 
1896.) Price 6d. net. 

This pleasing little work forms No. to of the 
‘‘ Popular Photographic Series,” and in Mr. Arthur 
Thornton’s hands the subject of the Réntgen rays 
assumes a simplicity which will be welcome to 
many of our readers. Commencing with the whole 
subject of vibrations, including those of sound and 
light, the author leads up to Prof. Réntgen’s 
recent discovery and its later development. Al- 
though the subject is sketchily treated in conse- 
quence of the limited space available, it is just 
what a general reader requires-to post him up in 
this new form of photography and its possibilities. 


Handbook to Liverpool and the Neighbourhood. 
Prepared by various authors for the Publications 
Sub-Committee of the British Association. Edited 
by W. A. HerpMan, F.R.S.; 191 pp. 8vo, with 
maps and charts. (Liverpool: Philip, Son and 
Nephew, 1896.) Price 2s. net. 

Professor Herdman’s energy in providing for 
the success of the Liverpool meeting of the 
British Association is further shown by the 
publication of this admirable handbook to the 
city. By its means he personally conducts the 
visitors to its history, geology, vertebrate, inverti- 
brate and marine fauna; the entomology, botany, 
climate, the river and its tides, docks and other 
engineering works, trade and commerce, and its 
chemical industries. To all this is added an 
appendix on the Isle of Man, including a geological 
map ofthe island, also plan of the sea around, 
with biological chart of the Irish Sea, chart of 
Liverpool Bay, and a useful geological map of the 
country round Liverpool. It is needless to point 
out that under Professor Herdman’s supervision 
the various authors of the articles have brought 


133 


the information up to the latest date, so that this 
handbook will be a work for reference for some 
years to come. For ‘that reason we are sorry to 
find the binders have omitted to put the title on 
the back, and thus risk the loss of the book when 
placed on the library shelves. 


Wayside and Woodland Blossoms. (Second Series.) 
By Epwarp Step, F.L.S. 185 pp. small 8vo, with 
130 coloured ‘and 23 uncoloured plates. (London 
and New York: Frederick Warne and Co., 1896.) 
Price 7s. 6d. 

These little books are evidently popular, for the 
first series has gone to a new edition, and the 
publishers seem to consider it worth while to issue 
a second series. In this volume the author treats 
of 325 species, thus the two volumes cover no less 
than 725 of our commoner flowering plants. The 
work will do much to familiarise many persons with 
British plants, who rather dread the systematic 
study of our flora, and will lead others to a 
desire to know more about the “ wayside and 
woodland blossoms.” The second series recently 
issued, shows indications of better printing of 
plates and colouring, also improvement in the 
text. Wecan strongly recommend the managers 
of school libraries and others to place these two 
volumes within reach of young people under their 
charge. 


The Photogram. Edited by H. SNowpEN Warp 
and CATHERINE MEED Warp. (London: Septem- 
ber, 1896.) Monthly, price 6d. 

It has seldom been our pleasure to see a more 
beautifully illustrated magazine than the September 
number of ‘‘The Photogram.’” The series of 
articles on ‘‘ Beauty Spots”’ has reached No. 6, which 
relates to ‘‘ London Town.” We are delighted to 
see that some one has taken up the artistic features 
of London. Long have we felt there was ample 
scope for articles on the picturesque spots so 
abundant in what people are still apt to describe 
as ‘‘dirty, smoky London.” This opinion was 
only too much supported by one artist of note who 
drew London. We refer to Mr. James Whistler's 
nocturns. Now we have the bright side treated, 
and we fully agree with Mr. Hamilton East, the 
author of ‘‘ London Town,” that the artist, whether 
in fact or in fancy, will find abundance of the 
picturesque within seven miles of the General Post 
Office. In ‘‘ The Photogram”’ for this month are 
examples beautiful enough to tempt many to 
commence searching for these quaint corners. 
The rest of the articles in this number are good, 
and helpful to amateur photographers. 


Tourist Guide to the Continent. Edited by Percy 
LINDLEY. 163 pp. 8vo. Seventh Annual Edition, 
illustrated, and with maps. (London: Great 
Eastern Railway Company, 1896.) Price 6d. 

A prettily illustrated, useful guide, full of just the 
kind of first. information an intending tourist in 
Europe requires. Although doubtless issued as an 
advertisement for the Great Eastern Railway Com- 
pany, this guide so little partakes of that character 
as to constitute itself well worth its price. 


Insects and Spiders. By J. W. Tutt, F.E.S. 
116 pp. 8vo, illustrated by xviii. plates. (London 
George Gill and Sons, 1896). Price ts. 

This little book contains fifteen lessons on Ento- 
mology and Spiders, which are illustrated by 
common or easily attainable examples. The book 
is Part ii. of Gill’s Practical Series of Object Lesson 
Books, that has been called forth by the new 
School Board code. 


SCIENCE GOSSIP 
Oe Sy tT 
PS jum P= ES S s 


on 
THE meeting of the British Association at 
Liverpool, just concluded, seems to have been an 
unqualified success. Some 3,000 people became 
ticket-holders on the occasion. 


LivERPOOL was fortunate in having so important 
a personage as the Earl of Derby for its Lord 
Mayor for the year of the British Association 
meeting. His wealth and position in themselves 
lend aid to both the City and Association. 


Tue subject of the inaugural address by Sir 
Joseph Lister, Bart., P.R.S., was happily chosen 
from the popular point of view. He discussed the 
benefits conferred upon the human race by some 
applications of science, and pointed out how 
suffering humanity had been alleviated by such 
discoveries. 


THE greatest among scientific discoveries which 
have aided the medical faculty have been the work 
of men of science apart from the professions of 
surgery and physic. For instance, the discoverers 
of anesthetics, bacteriology and its bearing upon 
human suffering, also, most recently, the Rontgen 
rays, the application of which will mark an epoch 
in surgery. In one of these subjects the President 
of the Association is an authority; his own work 
in the investigation of the behaviour of wounds, 
and the influence of bacteria on such behaviour, is 
world-wide in its reputation. 


Very different to our British Association 
Meetings have been those of the kindred American 
Association for the Advancement of Sciences. 
The meeting held last August, in Buffalo, could 
muster no more than 330 attending members. 
This must have been discouraging, for at the 
meeting in 1880, at Boston, we notice there were 997 
members. Since then, we learn from ‘ Science,”’ 
the numbers have gradually decreased, though a 
weak spurt has occasionally shown itself. 


Tue highest attendance at the meetings of the 
American Association has been in the older and 
more cultured cities, Boston, Philadelphia and 
Montreal leading the way with each over goo 
members. Curiously, there was a deep descent in 
the numbers at New York, whilst Brooklyn could 
only muster 488 members. 


THERE appears to be something wrong about the 
American Association, perhaps it is its social side 
that wants looking after. Maybe science has 
not got hold of the ‘‘ people” of the States as it 
has in this country, who may imagine that there 
“is no money in it’ for them individually. If that 
is so, not even the social entertainments will 
command an attendance of 3,000 five-dollar ticket- 
holders in any American city, as at Liverpool this 
week. 

In the September number of ‘‘ Symons’ Monthly 
Meteorological Magazine,’ Mr. Symons illustrates 
what he claims to have been the first daily weather 
map issued. It was sold at the great exhibition of 
1851, from August 8th to October 11th of that 
year. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


A BRILLIANT meteor was observed on Saturday 
night, September 12th, at about 10.25. Notes of 
its occurrence come from places as far apart as 
North Devon and South Yorkshire. 


THE ‘ Journal of the Marine Biological Station 
of the United Kingdom,” for the August quarter, 
contains several important articles and the Annual 
Report of the Council for 1895-96. The laboratory 
at Plymouth continues to afford excellent scientific 
results. 


WE are pleased to hear that Mr. A. J. R. 
Trendall has been appointed Assistant Secretary 
in the Department of Science and Art, in succession 
to Mr. G. F. Duncombe who has retired. Mr. 
Trendall has been well known in the department 
for many years. 


THE Entomologist and Zoologist to the Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station of New Mexico, 
U.S.A., Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell, has forwarded Part 
i. of his Report in his first capacity, dated April, 
1896. It possesses many items of interest to others 
than the people of New Mexico. 


THE science of ‘‘flying’’ by mechanical aid 
progresses slowly and not without its toll on its 
votaries, whom we every now and then hear of 
being killed. There are rumours of wonderful 
machines yet “‘ in the dark,” so we must wait whilst 
more enthusiasts are slain or maimed. 


Tuis seems to have been an exceptionally good 
mushroom year, but there have been more deaths 
than should have occurred through mistakes with 
poisonous fungi. It is quite time some means 
were organized for teaching people the difference 
between Agaricus campestris and some of its deadly 
allies. 


SEVERAL important gifts are announced as having 
been accepted by the Lick Observatory. They 
include funds for photometric apparatus for the 
equatoreal from Miss Caroline Bruce, of New 
York, and for the publication of a new lunar 
atlas, by Mr. Walter W. Law, of Scarborough-on- 
Hudson. 


WE receive from time to time the exceedingly 
well-arranged programmes of the field meetings of 
the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union. These circulars 
could be taken as a model by some other field 
clubs. That now before us relates to a fungus 
foray in the neighbourhood of Selby, from the 19th 
to the 22nd of September. 


THE publications of the Field Columbian Museum 
of Chicago have been divided to suit the conveni- 
ence of scientific workers. .. The following series 
have been established: Historical, Geological, 
Botanical, Zoological, Ornithological and Anthro- 
pological. We have received the Zoological 
Series, voli., Nos. 4 and 5 being on fishes of the 
Kankakee and Illinois Rivers; and on Foxschelys 
lativemts. 


SENATOR PALMIERI, better known as Professor 
Luigi Palmieri ‘‘ The Custodian of Vesuvius,” died 
on September roth, at the age of eighty-nine. Since 
1854 he has been Director of the Vesuvius Meteoro- 
logical Observatory. Among his inventions of 
scientific instruments is one “which has been 
invaluable to Seismologists for detecting earth 
tremblings. After holding several minor professor- 
ships he occupied the chair of Physics at the 
Royal Naval School at Naples and also at the 
Naples University. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. I 


sm, ISTRONOMY, 


Fy : OER | \V) 


tat a, 
a 


pasaenYy 


CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 


Position at Noon. 


Rises. Sets. R.A. 
Oct. hm. him. him. Dec. 
Sun sco @) ban CMV, 5 Gemoyroyoels cad mish cca toe GL A 
Ce) Gon (hs is} sto. Cay Al3.30) ces LOe 16! 
20cm OF50) con lggt7/ we LT? as angel SY 
Rises. Souths. Sets. 
NOCH OW as LOs0 2) atl ees22ONe Deis ere 5.50) ems 
19... 3-55 P.M. ...10.29 goa @) Aieo\, 
29 ... 10.42 -. 5:44am. ... 1.48 p.m. 
Position at Noon. 
Souths. Semt R.A. 
him, Diameter. hm. Dec. 
Mercury... 9 ... 10.39 a.m. ... 5” 0 T2.5 Aue BLS 
19 .- 10.44 coo at @ 12:38) -.6 22 38! 
29 ... 10.41 ao SO) EBS coy ye Stel 
VATS) och @) psa eH com BY (6) WA BIG aon wae EY S 
Ig ... 1.30 eS 15 2A Om S 
PRO) ona Weyl) OO 16.15 ... 22° 13/ 
MATS) ee O) = de z8) ame eee O40) 5-42 ... 23° 14’N 
19 ..- 3.59 Os Bes cco HE? Eel 
f 20) en) 3025 noo GF? @ BW coo BS GY 
Jupiter ...19... 8.34 a.m. ...15” 4 10.24 ... 10° 57/N 
Saturn ...19 ... I.14p.M.... 7" 1 15.8 15° 30’ S 
Uranus ...19 ... 1.29p.m. ,,, 1’ 8 15.23 189 190! S 
Neptune...19 ... 3.25a.m, ,,, 1% 2 5.17 21° 36/N 


Moon's PHASES. 

hm, hm. 
New ... Oct. 6... 1018 p.m. rst Qy. ... Oct. 13... 2.47 p.m. 
IRONS cco 9 EB con HOM oy BVA OV cc oy BE) 003 HAE 9 

Sun.—The spots are small and few in number, 
many appearing as the merest pores, quite hidden 
by the faculz as they approach near the limb. 

Mercory is very badly placed for observation 
early in the month, being in inferior conjunction 
with the sun on October 8th, but improves some- 
what later in the month, reaching its greatest 
elongation W. (18°) on the 24th, at 8 a.m. 

VENUs is poorly situated all the month. 

Mars is getting into good position for the ordinary 
observer, rising in the evening at 8h. 32m. on rst, 
and a few minutes before 6 o’clock on 31st. Its 
angular diameter is, however, less than half that 
of Jupiter, but many of the details of its surface 
are very evident, even with the aid of small instru- 
ments. 

JurITER may be observed in the later morning 
hours, rising at 1.30 on October 2oth. 

SaTuRN and Uranus are too near the sun for 
observation. 

NEPTUNE’s tiny disc is on the meridian about 
4m. earlier than that of Mars on roth, and so is 
getting into fair position for observation. 

METEORS may be looked for on October 13th, 
15th, 17th, 18th, 22nd, 24th and 29th, many 
radiating from Orion and Gemini. 

Brooks’ tiny comet is now getting farther from 
the earth, though still nearing the sun. 

VARIABLE STARS.—During October observations 
should be made on— 


R.A, Magnitude. 
him. S. Dec. Max. Min. Period. 
o Ceti... con BN ge GE SEY Shs 1? ES cen ates GO C ERK 


This star long since earned for itself the title of 
Mira. In colour it is usually yellow, though Sir 
John Herschel described it as very full ruby. It is 


w 
in 


not always equally brilliant at maximum, and its 
period was said by Argelander to show a probable 
regular alternation to the extent of twenty-five days. 
Its last maximum was reached about February 12th 
last, when its magnitude was about 3°5. The star, 
a Cassiopez, in last month’s list, requires careful 
observation, as periods so different as 791 days 
and 50°98 days have been assigned to it. 


Tue Totat Sorar Ectiprse.—Although our 
Astronomer Royal at Jesso and the friends at 
Vadso were disappointed, successful observations 
were made by Dr. E. J. Stone and Mr. Shackelton 
at Karmakul Island, Novaya Zemlya, whither they 
had been taken by Sir George Baden-Powell in his 
yacht, the ‘‘ Otaria.”” The Russian observers at 
some of the Siberian stations, and observers at Bodo, 
in Norway, and some other places, also seem to have 
made successful observations. 


REMARKABLE OBSERVATIONS.—The ‘‘ New York 
Herald” records that on July 2tst, Prof. W. R. 
Brooks, of the Smith Observatory, Geneva, N.Y., 
whilst observing the moon with the 1o-inch equa- 
toreal, saw a round, dark object pass slowly before 
it. It appears to have been a meteor too far from 
the earth to have been rendered incandescent by 
its atmosphere. The object moved horizontally 
from east to west, the transit occupying three or 
four seconds. The apparent diameter was about 
one-thirtieth that of the moon. The real distance 
from the earth being unknown, it is, of course, quite 
impossible to give the real diameter of the meteor. 
On June 27th, at 1 o'clock in the morning, the 
writer of these notes was looking at the moon with 
a 2-inch achromatic, power 44, when a tiny black 
object, slightly elongated, slowly sailed past from 
west to east, the transit occupying three or four 
seconds. This object was believed to be a bird of 
large size at a considerable distance. There was, 
however, nothing like fluttering observed. 


Dr. Husert A. Newron, Professor of Mathe- 
matics at Yale College, has passed away. He 
interested himself much in the motions of comets 
and meteors, and did much to establish the fact of 
the orbit of the November Meteors, and predicted 
the great shower of 1866, which is expected to be 
repeated again in 1899. He was born in 1830, at 
Sherburne, N.Y., and in 1872 was elected an 
Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society, In 
1875 he was chosen Vice-President, and in 1885 
President of the American Association for the 
Advancement of Sciences, of which he had been a 
member since 1850. 


ANOTHER LuNAR OpjEctT.—The northern of the 
three craters crossing the eastern floor of the Mare 
Crisium, known as Peirce A., is very interesting. 
It is the smallest of the three, and ina drawing by 
Mr. Edmund Neison, dated July 27th, 1877, is 
shown as joined to Peirce by a ridge, having a 
convexity towards the west. About three days after 
the sun hasrisen upon it, a brightish ring appears on 
the Mare around it, and remains visible until about 
sixty hours before the sun sets upon it. The area 
within this ring is darker than the surrounding sur- 
face. The northern wall of the crater seems to be 
near the centre of the ring. ‘There appears to be 
some doubt about the constant visibility of the 
crater, some observers claiming the total disappear- 
ance of Peirce A. under a high sun, while some never 
seem to quite lose it. The writer has always seen 
the north wall as a bright spot in the middle of the 
darker area, with one exception, 1895, March rrth, 
2am. Attention to this crater might prove useful. 


CONTRIBUTED BY G. K. GUDE, F.Z.S. 


La FEUILLE DES JEUNES NATURALISTES (Paris, 
September, 1896). Dr. E. Fournier contributes an 
interesting and instructive article on ‘‘ Geographic 
Botany,” in which he deals with the zones of vege- 
tation of the Caucasus. This mountain chain does 
not constitute, from a botanical point of view, a 
typical province, in which differences of altitude 
only influence the distribution of plants. Present- 
ing over its whole extent a great variety of climate, 
it furnishes consequently a large number of biological 
divisions, each characterized by special groups of 
species. These divisions are, going from west to east: 


the Black Sea district, the Western Transcaucasian ~ 


district, East Imeritia, Georgia, and Khakhetia ; the 
European Steppes district, the Asiatic Steppes dis- 
trictand the Saline Steppes district. Independently 
of these divisions, five principal zones of altitudinal 
distribution may be distinguished: Inferior zone 
to goo metres, in which many exotic plants are 
cultivated ; zone of the beech and chestnut, from 
goo to 1,500 metres; zone of the conifers, from 
1,500 to 2,000 metres ; Sub-Alpine zone, from 2,000 
to 3,000 metres; Alpine zone, from 3,000 metres 
to the limit of vegetation, which is excessively 
variable. The Alpine zone has many plants in 
common over all the six divisions, such as Primula 
grandis,two species of Campanula, Gentiana pyrenaica, 
Veronica gentianoides, Myosotis sylvatica, Rhododendron 
caucasica, and others. The Sub-Alpine zone also has 
several plants in common over the six divisions, 
birch, stunted beech, Daphne, Viburnum lantana, 
Sorbus avia, and others. The Conifer zone has 
Picea ovientalis and Abies nordmanniana distributed 
over the first three divisions, the Black Sea 
Province, Western Transcaucasia, and the Imeritia 
District ; while in the Eastern Caucasus, forming 
the three Steppes divisions, the Conifers are 
replaced by birches, except in Daghestan, where 
sometimes forests of Pinus sylvestvis are found. 
In the beech and chestnut zone the differences 
in distribution over all the divisions become 
apparent, the first division, ie. the Black Sea 
Province, having, besides the two trees which give 
its name to this zone, Pinus halepensis and Pinus 
pinea ; the second district, Western Transcaucasia, 
contains, besides beech and chestnut, alder, 
oak, sycamore, Rhododendron ponticum, etc. The 
Imeritia district has its forests of birch and chest- 
nut much thinner, interspersed with rhododendrons 
and azaleas; the European Steppes division is 
noted for Berberis, besides beech and chestnut, 
while in the remaining two Steppes divisions 
forests are very scarce. The inferior zone is most 
differentiated, the Black Sea Province being noted 
for Pinus halepensis, evergreen oaks, junipers and 
an abundance of Mediterranean species; the 
Western Transcaucasian division contains mixed 
forests, creepers, ferns, and a fair number of 
Mediterranean species ; the Imeritian district pro- 
duces Rhododendron ponticum, honeysuckle, paeonies 
and some Mediterranean species; in the European 
Steppes district grasses, Chenopodiaceae, Legu- 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


minosae, Labiatae and Artemisia abound; the 
Asiatic Steppes division is rich in pasturage, and 
produces Sternbergia fisheri and Helleborus caucasicus, 
while the Saline Steppes district has Salsola, Arte- 
misia, Euphorbia, fennel, etc. One of the most salient 
points is the abundance of Mediterranean species in 
the whole of Western and Central Transcaucasia ; 
while a noteworthy fact is the presence, among the 
species special to the Caucasian flora, of many 
types with tertiary affinity. These include Quercus 
pontica, an oak with simple leaves similar to those 
of achestnut, Betula medviedevi, a birch with alder- 
like leaves, forming the passage between the Asiatic 
birches and an American species, Betula lenta. 
Rhododendyvon ponticum has been found in the tertiary 
beds of Austria; and many others. M. Raspail 
discourses on ‘‘ Bird Migration by the aid of East 
Winds.” In a short illustrated article on the marsh- 
otter or European minx, Mr. Anfrie refers to some 
previous remarks made about the occurrence in 
France of this animal (ante p. 51), and gives, 
besides a woodcut, some further information about 
this interesting and little-known carnivore. 


ALBUM DER Natuur (Haarlem, 1896. Parts 1 and 
z). An appreciative account of the late Louis 
Pasteur, with portrait, is contributed by Dr. H. P. 
Wijsman ; while Dr. Tjaden Modderman discourses 
on the life and works of the physicist, Thomas 
Young, whose biography, by Peacock, was published 
in 1890, by Mr. John Murray. Dr. Hugo de Vries, 
in a note entitled ‘‘ Species or Variety,’ discusses 
the history of Chelidonium laciniatum, which is looked 
upon as a species by some, as a variety of Cheli- 
donium majus by others. It appears that a chemist 
in Heidelberg, Sprenger by name, found, about the 
year 1590, a new form of celandine in his garden ; 
it was not found elsewhere, neither wild nor culti- 
vated. Sprenger sent specimens to Bauhin, Clusius, 
Plater and others, all of whom admitted it as a 
new plant. It was soon distributed in botanic 
gardens in France, England, Germany and 
Holland. Since then it has occasionally been 
found as an escape, but has never been found 
really wild. That this form is constant, has 
been proved by cultivation; Miller raised it 
from seed during forty successive years, with- 
out ever noting the least reversion to the type. 
On the other hand, the common celandine is 
frequently sown on a large scale, yet this phe- 
nomenon, which presumably occurred in Sprenger’s 
garden, has never been again observed. If perfect 
constancy and complete separation of two allied 
types are considered sufficient characters to regard 
both as distinct species, there can be no doubt that 
the two forms in question are true species. The 
writer of the article, without taking sides with 
either view, considers that the facts stated are 
of extreme importance to all who are interested 
in the origin of species. Chelidonium laciniatum 
behaves as a true species in giving rise to other 
varieties. The degree of division of the leaves is 
so variable that three different varieties can be dis- 
tinguished, the variety crenatum being intermediate 
between the type and the variety fumariaefolium, in 
which the division is carried so far that the leaflets 
or pinnae are almost linear and very numerous. 
But it was found that all the three forms were 
obtained from seed of C.laciniatum. It was observed 
that some plants passed through all the three stages, 
beginning as var. crenatum and ending with the var. 
fumaviaefolium. None of the seedling plants ever 
showed the least sign of reverting to the typical 
form of C. majus. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


= 4 


OTTERS IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. — The Bucks 
Otter Hounds are stated to have killed no less than 
seventy otters this seasonin the county. This does 
not look as though these interesting animals were 
becoming extinct.—John T. Carrington. 


Late Swirt.—Whilst watching the birds on the 
lake in Kew Gardens to-day, I was surprised to 
note a solitary example of the swift (Micvopus apus) 
still lingering here. I called the attention of one of 
the keepers of the gardens to the bird, who also 


recognized it as being undoubtedly a swift. Is not 
this unusually late? Referring to my diary I find 
my previous latest date, August 23rd, 1894.— 


H. Mead-Briggs, Ealing ; September 6th, 1896. 


WHIRLWIND OFF ISLE OF WiGHtT.—On_ the 
evening of August 25th we were standing in the 
garden overlooking the sea, and watching the 
ragged edge of a very heavy black cloud passing 
over the sea from the north-west. About a quarter 
to seven o'clock one of our party drew our attention 
to a peculiar oblong projection hanging from the 
edge of this cloud. This projection rapidly became 
longer, till it reached a point about half-way 
between the cloud and the sea, when the lower 
part of it appeared to fall down, expand and 
become invisible, while the upper half gradually 
returned to the cloud. This action was evidently 
caused by a whirlwind, for that part of the sea on 
to which the lower half fell could be seen broken 
into spray, and moving, for a short time, rapidly in 
a south-easterly direction. We could hear no 
sound, but about a mile to the west the “ roaring’”’ 
of the water could be heard. The movement then 
subsided. The cloud scenery about this time was 
very fine, several curtains of dark cloud over- 
hanging the sea. The next day a short but fairly 
heavy thunderstorm occurred, with showers of rain, 
and the weather in a very disturbed condition. 
Since writing the above, I hear that three water- 
spouts were seen on the same day, two off 
Atherfield, about four miles west of this place, and 
one off here. This last was described as a 
cylinder, down which water was being poured, 
while the tail of cloud connecting it with the cloud 
above was of serpentine or S form.—Fyvank Sich, 
junr., Nitoz, Isle of Wight; August 27th, 1896. 


CATERPILLAR OF THE EyED Hawk-Motu.— 
Early last June I had brought to me a pair of eyed 
hawk-moths (Smerinthus ocellatus) taken in copula. 
I placed the female in a large box, and had the 
satisfaction of obtaining about one hundred eggs 
from her. These, in the course of ten or twelve 
days, hatched out, and having no other food placed 
handy I fed the young larve on poplar, of which 
there was an unlimited supply in the neighbour- 
hood. They readily took this, and allowing for 
deaths in skin changes and over-crowding, I think 
I was extremely successful in getting eighty to pass 
into pupe. At one time it looked extremely 
doubtful if I should obtain anything like this 
number, as I was suddenly called away from home 


137 


for a few days, just when the caterpillars were full- 
grown and were wanting to go under the earth. 
Having no earth available, when I returned I found 
to my dismay about thirty contracted forms to all 
appearances lifeless, but being busy I did not 
throw them away as was my intention. They 
remained like this in a box for some ten days. 
Noticing one of the others in the box where I 
placed the fresh food did not go under the earth 
that I had provided them, but only partly, as a dead 
leaf concealed it, had succeeded in becoming a 
chrysalis, I covered the thirty with a cloth, thus 
leaving them in darkness, and to my surprise twenty- 
three out of them passed into pup that same night 
The others did so in the course of a day or so 
This naturally has raised a thought in my mind—if 
the reason for passing under ground is to escape 
the light rather than for any other desire? It might 
furthermore be interesting to add that two of the 
thirty, in spite of the unpleasantness of their 
surroundings, do not seem to have in any way 
suffered, as on August 1oth they emerged as perfect 
moths, thus making a double brood. Curiously 
these two both came out the same night, within a 
few minutes of each other. My attention was 
called to them as I was going to bed by the 
noise the chrysalis made in bursting; it was quite 
a loud ‘‘ pop.” —H. Mead-Briggs, Canterbury; August 
20th, 1896. 


THe LaBeEL LIsT FOR FIVE-BANDED SHELLS — 
Writing in a letter from Mesilla, New Mexico, 
U.S.A., August 15th, 1896, to Mr. Carrington, Mr. 
Theo. D. A. Cockerell says: ‘‘ Many thanks for 
Label List of Snail-Shells—a very useful production 
certainly. I see Mr. Gude has given a review, so I 
will only concern myself with a few criticisms. 
The Conchological Society was quite illogical in 
its method of selecting varieties or mutations for 
citation, and you are equally illogical in following 
them. Under Helix nemoralis why are not 
cityinozonata, Ckll., and yvupozonata, Ckll. (with 
yellow and rufous—zot pink—bands respectively), 
as good as roseozonata and hyalozonata ? Why is not 
luteolaliata, Ckll. (lip tinged with yellow), as good 
as roseolaliata ? Why is not tenuis, Ckll. (MS., Marq., 
1889), as good as the tenuis var. of hortensis? And 
I think aurantia, Ckll., 1885, the beautiful orange 
unbanded var., should be added, as also petiverta 
and shideria. These I recommend merely as 
ranking with those accepted. Others of less note 
I do not now press. In H. hortensis var. luteolaliata 
was defined and named by me in 1887, long before 
Mr. Adams. The form rufozonata, Ckll., 1887, 
should, I think, also go in; likewise pallida, CkllL., 
1884. H. aspersa var. lutescens, Ckll., 1887, seems to 
me also valid enough. I know my views about 
naming variations are not orthodox, and I hope you 
will understand that I would not criticise you for 
not adopting them ; all I urge is that you should be 
consistent in whatever system you do adopt. Now 
as to the band formule. It would have been very 
desirable to indicate which had occurred in Great 
Britain and Ireland, and which not. That would 
stimulate collectors to look for the missingones. In 
British Naturalist,” July, 1804, you will find a list 
by me of those actually recorded up to the time I 
left England. Since then Mr. A. Belt has added two 
or three in a paper in Rep. Ealing Soc. I think 
Mr. Gude added a few in ‘Field,’ and perhaps 
some others have been recorded. A great deal 
more might be said, but I am writing at home and 
all my snail note-books and MSS. are at the 
college.”’ 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ABNORMAL GOLDFISH.—I have recently seen a 
three-tailed goldfish. A friend who showed it to 
me had three living specimens in his possession. 
Mr. Ford-Lindsay’s note (S.-G., vol. ii, p. 327), 
reminds me of it. The upper lobe of the tail in 
each case was divided into two portions, and was 
spread out somewhat in the form of a fan, whose 
plane would be horizontal, and at right angles to 
the remaining lower lobe. —Ed. A. Martin, 62, 
Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath. 

[This variety of goldfish has long been artificially 
cultivated by the Chinese and Japanese. They 
have been brought to great ‘‘ perfection,” the caudal 
fins far exceeding in length the body of the fish in 
good specimens. These abnormal fish may some- 
times be seen in aquaria in England or in dealer’s 
shops of London and Paris. We have known 
exceptionally fine examples to be sold for as much 
as five pounds per pair.—Ed. S.-G.] 


ARGYNNIS NIOBE IN HAMPSHIRE.—I have every 
reason to believe that my brother and I have taken 
three females of Argynnis niobe in the New Forest, 
in the neighbourhood of Lyndhurst. According to 
Newman’s figure and description, the insect cer- 
tainly is #iobe, but referring to Kirby and other 
authors, I find there is a considerable variety of 
opinion as to the characteristic markings of A. niobe 
and A.adippe. If not niobe it must be a variety of 
adippe with distinct metallic green markings on 
both upper and under sides, and the additional 
silver spot after the first basal series on the hind 
wing. In fact, in all respects it exactly coincides 
with Newman’s figure. Newman records only one 
British capture, and Kirby thinks it a doubtful 
native species, considering many of the reputed cap- 
tures are only varieties of the high-brown fritillary. 
As Argynnis niobe is a common Continental insect, 
I hope to have an opportunity of comparing our 
specimens with some foreign ones, and so ascer- 
taining the species.—Catherine A. Winckworth, 11, 
Old Steine, Brighton; August 18th, 1896. 


NIGHTJARS HAWKING By DAy.—Whilst out fishing 
at noon-tide on August 3rd, I was surprised to see 
a pair of nightjars feeding on the wing. Itis nota 
rare occurrence in shady woods to sometimes come 
across a slowly flitting bird in day-light that may 
have been disturbed, or whose parental duties have 
compelled it to cater for a hungry brood ; but never 
before have I seen a pair wide awake in a blazing 
sun-shine, performing all the wondrous evolutions 
of the evening flight. There was no shelter near 
and the sun’s heat was more than passing warm. I 
watched these birds for more than half an hour, 
and came to the conclusion they were simply hawk- 
ing flies for their own consumption. They did not 
seem to mind my presence half so much as that of 
the swallows, which would attack them furiously 
from time to time. The female bird in fact once 
came and sat on a post not ten yards off me, while 
the male made himself at home on the edge of an 
old boat moored to the bank. Apparently they 
were feeding upon very small flies —H. Mead-Briggs, 
Canterbury ; August_5th, 1896. 


PyRUS JAPONICA FRUITING.—My thanks are due 
to Mr. Lett for his information (ante p. 52) 
respecting the fruiting of this shrub in Ireland. 
As there has been no other case mentioned, it may 
be concluded that my friend’s plant, without 
exactly making ‘‘a record” has sufficiently distin- 


guished itself to deserve notice. He tells me that 
this year neither of his specimens has set any fruit. 
The Ampelopsis (S-G. vol. ii. p. 192) has again 
produced numbers of berries, which will no doubt 
ripen in due course, as they did last year; the 
unusually continuous fine weather of both summers 
probably accounting for the event.—Jas. Burton, 
9, Agamemnon Road, West Hampstead; August, 1806. 


EpPInG Forest PLants.—Of the plants recorded 
as growing in Epping Forest there are in existence 
several lists, the most recent, I believe, being 
that published by Mr. J. T. Powell, in the ‘‘ Essex 
Naturalist,’ in 1892. A copy of this list having 
recently come into my possession, I note that the 
following two plants are not recorded, nor are they 
given in the list of Epping Forest plants in 
Buxton’s ‘‘ Epping Forest.’’ They both probably 
have been seen by other observers than myself. 
Stellarta umbrosa, in the forest, near Chingford ; 
Limnanthemum peltatum, pond south-west of Epping. 
The latter plant is given for Woodford (including 
the River Roding) in Cooper's ‘‘ Flora Metro- 
politana,” 1836, upon the authority of Warner.— 
C. E. Britton, 189, Beresford Street, Camberwell, S.E. 


PLantTs ON DISTURBED Sort.—Whilst recently 
going by the bridle-path from Ashtead towards 
Headley, Surrey, I noticed towards the old Roman 
road, known as the Ermyn Way, a narrow strip of 
ground parallel to the path, from which the turf had 
been removed. There grew on this disturbed soil 
a number of plants altogether different in character 
from those that had been displaced by the removal 
of the turf, and also different from those growing 
beyond the bounds of the narrow strip. As a 
whole the plants were alien to the Downs and 
represented the weed-flora of the not distant 
cornfields, in which, however, the corn having been 
cut, rendered a comparison with the weeds not 
possible. The most showy ‘plant was a beautiful 
large-flowered hemp-nettle that, with the poppies, 
made a fine display. The following is a list of 
the plants noted, and is incomplete, as it does not, 
at the least, include one or more grasses of the 
Downs: Fumaria officinalis; Papaver somniferum, P. 
vheas, P. lamottei, P. argemone; Reseda luiea ; Viola 
avvensis ; Silene cucubalus; Lychnis alba; Stellaria 
media ; Avenavia serpyllifolia, A. leptoclados ; Medicago 
lupalina; Trifolium medium; Potentilla anserina ; 
fEthusa cynapium; Matricaria inodova; Centaurea 
scabiosa; Sonchus asper; Anagallis arvensis; Convol- 
vulus arvensis ; Linaria spuria, L-vulgaris, L. viscida ; 
Veronica agrestis, V. buxbaumii ; Calamintha arvensis ; 
Galeopsis angustifolia; Ajuga chamepitys; Plantago 
major; Chenopodium album; Atriplex angustifolia ; 
Polygonum convolvulus, P. aviculare ; Euphorbia exigua, 
E. helioscopia; Lolium perenne.—C. E Britton, 180, 
Beresford Street, Camberwell, S.E.; August, 1896. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 13 


—— 


ee as 
TRIN 


(\ 


x Qa : 


SoutH LonpON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History Society.—August 13th. (Continued from 
paget11.) Mr. Fremlin exhibited a series of Phigalia 
pedarvia, from Saltash, including the dark reticulated 
form and the very dark uniform variety. Mr. H. 
Moore, numerous interesting insects from South 
Africa, including a fine specimen of Actias mimose, 
which, from its sluggish habits, can be easily picked 
off the bushes, its larvee are more or less gregarious ; 
several species of the larger Orthoptera, including 
Pachytilus pardalinus, the species which often appears 
in vast numbers and does considerable damage ; 
P. peregrinus, which is ‘‘the locust” of North 
Africa; Cyrtacanthus purpurifera, a very large 
species; Acheta africana, a mole cricket from 
Johannesburg, and numerous species of Coleoptera 
which are attracted in thousands to the electric 
lightsin Pretoria. Mr. Sauzé, a specimen of Cicada 
anglica, one of three taken by Mr. Heasler in 
Surrey. Mr. Heasler had been attracted to some 
oak-trees by an unusual stridulation, and eventually 
succeeded in obtaining these three examples. Thus 
a doubt as to whether this species stridulates or 
not has been cleared up, there being no previous 
record of such. Mr. West, of Greenwich, a series 
of the local Hemiptera, Eurygastey maura from 
Folkestone. Mr. Mansbridge, a double cocoon 
of Clisiocampa neustvia, from which, although 
the imagines had emerged from the pupa-cases, 
they had been unable to extricate themselves. 
When cut open there was only one cavity partially 
divided into two. Mr. Barrett exhibited four 
British specimens of Plusia ni, two belonging to 
Mr. Jeffries and two to Mr. Briggs, one of the 
former was captured in Surrey ; also a fine var. of 
Cleoceris viminalis having the basal half of the fore- 
wings very dark in contrast to the very pale outer 
portion, andaremarkable form, Agvotis exclamationis, 
in which neither of the stigmata were developed, 
but the elbowed and basal lines were very distinct 
and perfect on the uniformly pale brown ground 
colour. A discussion took place on the season, 
with especial reference to Colias edusa and the means 
of migration of insects. Messrs. Stevens, McArthur, 
Adkin, Barrett, Mansbridge, Winkley and others 
taking part.—August 27th. Mr. R. South, F.E.S., 
President, in the Chair. Mr. Montgomery ex- 
hibited a beautiful xanthic example of Epinephele 
tithonus taken at Jevington on July 27th, all the 
usually black area being a rich dark fulvous. Mr. 
Auld the results of his this year’s breeding of Abraxas 
gvossulaviata, in the neighbourhood of Lewisham. 
Mr. Adkin,.a head of flower-buds of ivy with ova 
of Cyanivis (Lycena) argiolus, in situ, and made some 
remarks upon the habits of the species. Mr. 
Manger, a specimen of Eugonia (Vanessa) polychloros 
taken on May 24th at Brockley. It was suggested 
that the larva fed on poplar, as no elm was in the 
neighbourhood. Mr. Moore, specimens of Papilio 
daunus and P. cresphontis from St. Augustines, 
Florida, also several specimens of the ‘ walking- 
stick’ insect, Arnisomorpha briprestoides, which, 
when seized, will spurt out a strong acid vapour 
from exceptionally large glands placed in the sides 


of the thorax. Mr. Mansbridge, a bred species of 
Polia chi from a dark female taken near Hudders- 
field; several examples were dark, having all the 
lines, bands and markings of var. olivacea, but without 
any trace of the olive-green shade of that variation. 
Mr. South, two specimens of Cavadvina ambigua 
taken by Mr. Woodford, near Exmouth, in July 
this year; the specimens were unusually pale 
and glossy, no doubt, it was thought, due to its 
resting habit in that district. In answer to a 
question from Mr. Barrett, Mr. McArthur said 
that the larva of Hadena adusta spun its cocoon in 
the autumn but did not turn to pupa till the spring. 
He had repeatedly found them at the roots of moss 
Mr. Auld reported that var. nigvata of Limenitis sybilla 
had been taken in some numbers this year. He 
also knew of a specimen of Polyommatus icarus 
having no vestige of spots on the underside, and a 
var. of Dryas paphia a pale border and a dark 
centre. Mr. Turner had taken the second brood of 
Zonosoma annulata in North Kent, and three speci- 
mens came to sugar. Mr. Adkin had spent a 
fortnight at Eastbourne, but had seen no Colias 
edusa. Mr. South’s experience was the same. Mr. 
Mansbridge had heard that the species was to be 
taken on the East Coast. Mr. Tutt, during a 
month spent in South France, had seen but half-a- 
dozen, in fact it always appeared scarcer than 
C. hyale on the Continent. Mr. Tutt asked if there 
was any direct evidence that Pyvameis cavdui hyber- 
nated as an imago. He had failed to find any 
authenticated record. In North Africa, Mr. Eaton 
had reported the larve as feeding during the 
winter. Mr. Barrett had seen imagines in late 
autumn and again in spring, but knew of no 
positive evidence of the imago of this species being 
found in winter. Mr. Fremlin communicated the 
following letter which he had received: ‘'‘ Culver- 
lands,’ 147, Willesden Lane, N.W. Dear Sir, I 
can offer bred X. conspicillavis (Kent), for P. smarag- 
davia. 1 have them both set and unset, black pins. 
Can also offer a fine V. antiopa (white border). 
Yours truly, Thos. Humble Ralfe.’’ Strong and 
pointed criticism of this letter ensued.—Hy. J. 
Turney (Hon. Report Sec.). 


City oF LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History Socrety.— Tuesday, September st. 
Exhibits: Mr. Nicholson, a bred series of large 
females of Ocneria dispar, many of them having 
the subterminal line very strongly developed on all 
the wings; one specimen had the dot and V-shaped 
mark united. Mr. Tutt said that in Grenoble the 
females of this species were very large, while 
in the neighbouring Alps they were small. Mr 
Frost, Apatura iris, grey form of Agrotis nigricans, 
Noctua dahlii, N. stigmatica, Aplecta occulta, Hy- 
dvoecia nictitans, and var. paludis and a specimen ot 
Agvotis puta with left hind-wing perfect but much 
dwarfed; all these among many others were from 
the vicinity of Ipswich, where he had found that 
moths came to sugar from about 1o p.m. till 2 or 3 
a.m.; butterflies were scarce, except Cyaniris (Lycena) 
argiolus, which was unusually common. | Drajeuos 
Sequeira, lepidoptera from the Isle of Wight, taken 
during the first three weeks in August, including 
one Notodonta dictea, and one Arctia fultginosa taken 
at light at Ryde; blue females and dwarfs of 
Polyommatus icarus; a pale brassy specimen of 
Chrysophanus phicas, taken in the spot where he had 
captured an example of the var. sc/imidtit many 
years ago. Sugar had been a total failure. C. 
argiolus was very common. Mr. Nicholson said he 
had heard that if larvae of Arctia caia were reared 


140 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


on lettuce, they would pupate in the autumn and 
produce a second brood. Mr. Sequeira stated that 
part of a lot of silkworms’ eggs, laid in July, had 
already hatched. Mr. Bate recorded a specimen 
of Tethza sublusa from Dulwich, August 26th last; 
he believed this species had not been taken in the 
district before. Mr. Tutt said it had been taken 
previously, but not commonly.—C. Nicholson and 
L. J. Tremayne (Hon. Secs.). 


NortH Lonpon Natural History SocieTry.— 
Thursday, July 23rd, 1896. Mr. C. B. Smith, 
President, in the chair. Exhibits: Mr. Harvey, 
Geometra papilionaria, reared from Epping Forest 
larva. Mr. Bishop mentioned that the bilberry 
grows near Sevenoaks, which he thought was the 
nearest locality to London for this plant. Mr. R. 
W. Robbins said he had been more or less com- 
missioned by the society, at the last meeting, to 
find out the food-plant of Papilio machaon in the 
Alps, Having spent a week at Lucerne, he had 
found the wild carrot extremely plentiful at eleva- 
tions as high as those whereon P_machaon occurred, 
and had no doubt this plant was the food of 
the larve. Mr. F. W. Ruodler, F.G.S., Curator 
of the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn 
Street, read a most interesting and instructive 
paper entitled “‘The Age of Ice.” Referring to 
our fossil remains, he said that in the Mollusca, 
most of the species still existed at the present day, 
but the Mammals were nearly all either locally or 
totally extinct. The appearance of many of these 
was hairy and shagsy, suggestive of an age of 
intense cold. Mr. Rudler then dealt at great 
length with the discovery of traces of ice drifts in 
Scotland and Wales, and mentioned the names of 
Agassiz, Venetz, de Charpentier, Buckland and 
Ramsay in connection therewith. He then ex- 
plained very fully the use of ice as an agency for 
transport, and showed how bodies may be carried 
along, either in, on, or under the ice. This led to 
an explanation of many subjects, the whole 
illustrated by a splendid series of diagrams. 
The paper was admirably delivered thronghout, 
and lasted one hour forty-five minutes. A 
hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Rudler terminated 
the proceedings —Lawrence J. Tremaynz, Hon. Sec. 


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ALL editorial communications, books or instruments for 
review, specimens for identification, etc.,to be addressed to 
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CORRESPONDENCE. 


Dora Tworenny —Thanks for plums. Donble specimens 
are not veryrare. The smaller is aninterrupted double one, 
one half not having matured. 


R. M. Tuorre (Nottingham)—_Wesympathise with you on 
the comparatively limited number of short notes on microscopy 
in Science-Gossir. We always gladly welcome them. 
We fear the interest in the subject has been latierly over- 
shadowed by athletics, bicycling and the like. We know 
of no other monthly journal which publishes them, and 
the quatierlies are too long apart. Ii more were sent in by 
those still working with the microscope the interest would 
soon revive. As you say, students now beginning, need 
Trecent notes to encourage them. 


A. B. Jacxson (Newbury).—Yes, the fungi sent are the 
edible champisgnon, Marasmius oreado, Fr., which forms the 
““fairy-tings.”” 


EXCHANGES. 


Notice.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including 
name and address) admitted free, but additional words must 
be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words 
or less. 


PLEISTOCENE MoLiusca for exchange; desiderata, British 
and European shells—A. S. Kennard, Benenden, Mackenzie 
Road, Beckenham, Kent. 


WanTED, offers for Beck’s Popular Binocular Microscope. 
2in., 1-in,4in , in. objectives, etc., cost £19; wonld accept 
in part 3 plate camera outht.—J. Read, St. Stephen’s Sireet, 
Norwich. 

Wawntep, No. 14 “ Naturalist’s Journal.”—Mosley, printer, 
Huddersield. 

Wantep, Sci=nce-Gossip for November, 1865, September 
to December, 1893, and September, 1859; any reasonable 
price given. Also wanted, specimens exhibiting mimicry in 
Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, etc.; iull particulars for cash or 
exchange.— Mark Sykes, Manor Sireet, Ardwick, Man- 
chester. 

ButteRriiecs exchanged for moths, Sibylla, Galathea, 
Adonis, Corydon, Alsus, Acteon.—F. Brown, Van Buren, 
Bournemouth. 


WantTep, cabinet specimens of sea-urchins and starfish, 
also a wasps’ nest, in exchange for first-class micro-slides 
and good healthy canaries—H. W. Parsitt, 8, Whiichall 
Park, London, N. 

VERTIGO suBsTEIATA, V. edeniula, Zonites excavatus, Z. 
nitidus, Acmea linear and others for Unios and Anodontas 
from any rivers or ponds in Norfolk. —Joseph Whitwham, 52, 
Cross Lane, Marsh, Huddersfield, 

For exchange, a few dozen micro-photo negatives. 
Wanted, mounted Diatoms and Foraminifera.—John Mearns, 
52, Jasmine Terrace, Aberdeen. 

Wants. specimen of paste containing live eels (Anguil- 
lulz) in exchange for micro-slides; also for exchange, 
Fiddian’s portable microscope lamp and Casella’s altazi- 
muth. Wanted, safety stage—H. G. Madan, Bearland, 
Gloucester. 

Fossiz diatomaceous earth of Oamaru, New Zealand, for 
a Similar weight of any other earth of similar character — 
R. Trist Searell, Professor of Music, Christchurch, N.Z. 


Wantep, Chemical balance (4 milligram), chemical 
apparatus, blowpipe apparatus, and rock specimens and 
slides. State desiderata—J. Russon, 123, Monk’s Road, 
Lincoln. 

Mosses.—_Wanted, Sphagnums, Bryums, and any Dicra- 
naceae, Grimmiaceae. Offered, Hypnum imponens, Ephe- 
Merum minutissimum; Fruiting specimens: Aulacomniou 
palustre, Hypnum purum, Hylocomium squarrosum, 
Eurynchium piliferom—H. Monington, 8, Westwood, Road, 
Streatham. 


i- 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


141 


A MOTH” NEW IO, BRITAIN. 


By Joun T. CARRINGTON. 


S stated in the last number of SciENcE-GossiP 
(ante p. 131), I had the good fortune to 
capture a male example of Calophasia platyptera, 
Esp., on September 14th last; and have now the 
pleasure of giving a natural-size illustration of the 
specimen. 

It is curious that although we have not the genus 
‘Calophasia in our last recognized lists of British 
lepidoptera, it was so named by an Englishman, 
the celebrated James Francis Stephens, one of 
the fathers of entomology. It appears in his 
“‘Tllustrations of British Entomology” (vol. iii. 
Haustellata), published in 1829. He named it 
from the Greek words, KéAov, lignum, and ¢dos, 
apparitio. Stephens introduced into the list of his 
period a moth named linavie which he placed 
in his new genus Calophasia, from specimens 
captured in June, 1817, at Woodside, near Epping, 
Essex, and obtained whilst fresh by Dr. Leach, 
who, ‘‘with his wonted libe- 
rality, supplied me with the fine 
specimen,” whence the drawing 
was made on his accompany- 
ing plate 29. Dr. Staudinger, 
in his ‘‘ Catalogue of European 
Lepidoptera’’ makes linarig a 
synonym for Calophasia lunula, 
Hufn., and Stephens’ figure 
is much like other figures of 
C. lunula. Westwood and Humphry, in ‘British 
Moths and their Transformations” (vol.i., plate l., 
figs. 3, 4 and 12), illustrate Jinavie and its larva, the 
moth appearing quite different to Stephens’ figure, 
being much more like C. flatyptera. These authors, 
however, apparently give lJinavie as British on 
Stephens’ authority. The latter author, in record- 
ing linavie, says: ‘‘ The only examples I have seen 
of this remarkably conspicuous insect are contained 
in the collection of the British Museum and in my 
own cabinet.” Iam of opinion that several Calo- 
phasia lunula, under the synonym of linarig, were 
taken in 1817, as stated, but the species has not 
appeared in Britain since, and has therefore been 
omitted from the list of our lepidopterous fauna. 
The genus now re-appears as British, in my 
-addition to our list of native lepidoptera. 

Professor Ernst Hofman in ‘Die Gross- 
Schmetterdinge Europas,” issued in 1894, figures 
both Calophasia platyptera and C. lunula; his figure 
of the former is not drawn from a specimen quite 
like the one taken by me and figured here, being 
much darker, though evidently of that species. 

Dr. Staudinger, in his ‘‘ Catalogue of European 

_ Butterflies and Moths,” above referred to, enume- 


NovEMBER, 1896.—No. 30, Vol. 3. 


LESSER SHARK MOTH. 
Calophasia platyptera, Esp. 


rates eight species in Calophasia. He places the genus 
next but one before the genus Cuwcullia ; Cleophana 
intervening with nine species. Therefore, in our 
British list of lepidoptera, as at present arranged, 
Calophasia platyptera comes between 
lithoviza and Cucullia verbasci. 

The description of C. flatypteva, as translated 
by Mr. Kirby in his ‘‘European Butterflies and 
Moths,” runs as follows :—‘‘ Fore-wings ashy grey, 
with a brownish shade running from middle of the 
inner margin to the tip, and slender black nervures 
and intermediate black streaks in the marginal area, 
which are intersected by the pale suffused sub- 
marginal lines. The transverse lines and stigmata 
are absent; hind-wings brownish, paler towards 
the base. Expands 1 to 14 inches. It inhabits 
Southern Europe in June, and the larve resembles 
that of Junula. The moth flies over flowers in the 
evening in June, and the larva feeds on Linaria 
nivead.”’ The larva of C. lunula 
is ‘‘pearly-white, with yellow 
longitudinal lines, black trans- 
verse spots on the back, and 
black spots on the sides; it 
feeds in June and August, 
being double-brooded.’"’ Some 
authorities give platyptera also 
as double-brooded. 

The exact locality where I 
took this interesting addition to our lepidoptera 
was in a rough hedge enclosing an uncultivated 
field devoted to gravel-pits and brick-making 
on the south side of the old Shoreham road, a 
little over three miles from Brighton. It may 
be reached by train to Portslade station, then 
take the road running thence northwards, turn 
sharp to left after proceeding a few hundred 
yards; the road then dips considerably down 
hill. There it will be found to have been arti- 
ficially raised above the field on the south side 
and the bank-like hedge facing south is the 
place where I found the moth. Search should be 
made next year in late June and July, and again in 
September for this species, especially on rails, 
posts, palings, and by beating the hedgerow. 
The flowers should also be watched at dusk; in 
fact the members of the genus Calofhasta possess 
habits similar to the larger ‘‘shark-moths.'’ The 
toad flax and allied plants growing around should 
be searched for the larve. 

The European range of this species extends, I 
believe, into Southern Germany, as its most northern 
limit. It may be suggested that it has been arti- 
ficially introduced with cargoes from the Continent. 


Xylocampa 


142 


I doubt that theory, because any cargoes which are 
landed in the small port of Shoreham, in Sussex, are 
extremely unlikely to have come from Southern or 
Central Europe, where C. platyptera occurs, as they 
consist chiefly of coals, timber, potatoes and goods 
from our own and Continental ports not far distant. 
The harbour isso shallow at Shoreham that vessels 
of any great size could not enter. It will be remem- 
bered when the late William Prest took a specimen 
of Eupithecia extensavia near Hull, many persons, 
including himself, believed it to have been a stray 
specimen introduced from the Baltic region with 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


some ship’s ballast. So it remained for several 
years unique as British, no one troubling to search 
for the species. Now, thanks to Mr. Porritt, every 
lepidopterist in this country probably knows that 
Eupithecia extensavia occurs locally wherever the 
sea-wormwood grows, from Hull southwards, down 
to the Norfolk coast. This incident shows how 
unwise it is to take any statement for granted in 
connection with scientific investigation, and how 
necessary it is to verify every fact. 


1, Northumberland Avenue, London, W.C.; 
October, 1896. 


THE RISECOF PAL AZONDOLOGY:, 


By ARTHUR J. MASLEN. 


He’ often does the student, after a few days’ 

fossil-hunting, pause to consider, or even 
think of considering, in the midst of his chipping 
and trimming, his glueing and washing, the history 
of that important branch of science, palzontology, 
to which he may, perchance, contribute his mite ? 
How engrossing, how sublime, how helpful, to 
read the lives of the great heroes who made our 
science. When we think of Smith, of Cuvier, of 
Lamarck, of Owen, and ahost of other worthies, who 
each fought almost alone the battle which took us 
out of the misty realms of metaphysical speculation 
and landed us with infinite labour on our way to 
the certitudes of positive science; when we think 
of all this, and then contemplate the fact that the 
last hundred years include the whole of their lives, 
we feel that the progress of paleontology has been 
indeed great and rapid. 

Looking back along the path of history into the 
dimmer regions of antiquity, we seek in vain for 
the name or place of him who first found, embedded 
in the very foundations as it were of the earth, 
a shell, a tooth, or a bone, and pondered over the 
causes which brought the thing into such a curious 
position. Entering the region of real knowledge, the 
antiquity of the study of fossils is attested by the 
fact that the great Herodotus himself describes the 
nummulites which make up the building-material 
of the pyramids of Egypt—then, more than now, the 
home of mystery—as the “‘ remains of lentils.”” The 
Greek philosopher, Xenophanes, 500 years before 
the Christian era, was influenced in his lofty 
philosophical rhapsodies by his observations on 
the fossil remains exposed to his view in the 
quarries of Syracuse. 

Notwithstanding the fact that since this early 
time fossils are occasionally mentioned by philo- 
sophers, geographers and others, and notwith- 
standing the many speculations respecting their 
origin and nature by the philosophers at the revival 
of learning, it was not until the present century 


that we came to what we may term a scientific 
knowledge of fossils—the work, as pioneers, of 
Cuvier, Lamarck and others. Indeed, the term 
‘‘palzontology,” the study of ancient life (in fact 
the study itself in the sense of the meaning of the 
word) is so entirely modern, that so far as is known, 
Pusch, in a work on the geology of Poland, pub- 
lished in 1837, first used it; and it was only made 
popular by the insistent use of the term by A. 
D’Orbigny about 1840. 

In attempting to give a brief sketch of the history 
of paleontology, using the term in the sense of 
the study of fossils, it will be convenient to divide 
the time into four periods : 

Ist Period. — Aristotle (B.c. 300)—Leonardo da 
Vinci (A.D. 1500). 

2nd Period.—Beginning of the 16th century— 
Linnzus (1766). 

3rd Period.—Linnzeus—Darwin (1859). 

4th Period.—1859—present day. 

During the long interval of time represented by 
the first period, the progress of science was indeed 
slow, if it was not rather retrogressive, for the 
healthy common sense of the ancient Greeks, of 
Xenophanes and Aristotle, had led them to assert 
without hesitation the organic nature of the fossils 
they saw. Again, towards the end of the period a 
few men, including Leonardo da Vinci and others, 
struggling to free themselves from the maze of 
metaphysical speculation and fancy which con- 
stituted the foundation of the natural knowledge of 
their time, were able to take just views of the 
nature of fossils and to claim for them, in spite of 
the school-men, their true nature as the remains of 
once-living animals and plants. To Aristotle 
indeed must be given the credit of being the 
founder of the inductive system of reasoning, 
which forms the basis on which modern science 
has been reared and which was almost lost in the 
darkness of the a fviovi reasoning of the middle 
ages. 


the form of animals or plants? 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 143 


It is said that Alexander (afterwards Alexander 
the Great), a pupil of Aristotle, was so interested 
in the natural history studies of his tutor, that he 
employed a host of men in collecting natural curi- 
osities, which afterwards formed the materials for 
the work of his master on the ‘History of 
Animals.’’ This point is particularly interesting as 
tending to show us that Aristotle was not content 
with merely reasoning about things, but he must 
see and handle. Indeed, so antagonistic are 
some of his principles from those of Plato 
that whilst the key-note of the latter seems 
to be that ideas alone determine our knowledge, 
and that consequently we must distrust all sen- 
sations not in accordance with those a priori 
ideas, Aristotle goes so far as to say that a 
sensation must be true, although our interpretation 
may be, and often is, erroneous. He points out 
that observation is more to be trusted than pure 
reason, and that we must not accept general 
principles from reason only, but must start with 
facts, and then test the general laws we promulgate 
by the accuracy of the deductions we make from 
them. With Aristotle we reach the culminating 
point of ancient philosophy, and we can hardly 
doubt that had not the principles given above been 
submerged later by the subtle speculations of the 
school-men, science would have progressed much 
more rapidly than has been the case 

The first names of fossils, as far as is known, are 
due to Theofrastus, another pupil of Aristotle, and 
Pliny, nearly 300 years later, gave us the familiar 
names Ammonites (the horns of Jupiter Ammon), 
Spongites, etc. It must be remembered, however, 
that these names were not applied in the definite 
and limited sense in which we now use them, the 
name Spongites, for example, now restricted to the 
fresh-water sponge, being then applied to almost 
any indeterminate markings. 

We have seen how, after this, inductive science 
was brought almost to a standstill and a priori 
reasoning alone cultivated. Speculation became 
rife as to what fossils were. Belief in spontaneous 
generation (abiogenesis), that is to say, in the 
development of living matter out of mineral 
matter, was universal, and the prevailing idea was 
that fossils are generated in the earth. And why 
not? Just as certain things are formed in the sea 
and different things in the air, why should not 
certain things be formed in the earth? And why 
should they not, thought these old masters, have 
And did they not 
see in the fern-like growth of the hoar-frost, as it 
crept o’er the window-pane in winter, proof that 
there are forces acting capable of making inorganic 
matter take up organic forms. What wonder then 
that people preferred to believe that fossils were 
mere sports of nature than that they were really 


what they are; for would it not have necessitated 


) 


belief in the fluctuation of the relative level of 
land and sea? How impossible this must have 
seemed. How much more reasonable to accept 
the former view rather than the latter. Let 
us ever remember that these old philosophers’ 
thoughts were necessarily moulded to a very con- 
siderable extent by the intellectual environment of 
their time, just exactly as ours are, and that their 
opinions, though erroneous to us, are yet entitled to 
our respect ; and let us re-echo with Vanini: ‘‘ The 
grace of God forbid we should be over-bold to lay 
rough hands on any man’s opinion. For opinions 
are certes, venerable properties, and those which 
show the most decrepitude should have the 
gentlest handling.” 

The second of our periods —that from the 
beginning of the sixteenth century—presents no 
very sharp line of demarcation from the preceding 
one. Metaphysical speculation still held almost 
undisputed sway ; indeed, it may be said that the 
a priovt method really culminated in Linnzus, who 
was essentially a school-man, and did not think 
that fossils were the remains of living organisms. 
However, be this as it may, opinion was beginning 
to change. Thinkers were no longer content to 
receive unquestioned the speculations of their 
ancestors. No longer was everyone content to look 
upon fossils as mere sports of nature, mere creative 
attempts, mere failure in the history of creation. 
The prevailing idea was that they were remains 
left by the Deluge. How many books were 
published in confirmation of this? We can imagine 
the interest evinced when Schewchzer published 
his works on the animals of the period of the 
Deluge. How interesting the account given of the 
remains of the ill-fated animals and even men. 
Alas, so uncritical were their methods that it was 
left to the future to point out that the so-called 
skeleton of a man was really but a salamander, 
and that the bones of the accursed race were 
merely the now familiar Liassic Jchthyosaurus 
vertebre. One of the most remarkable men 
of this period was Dr. John Woodward, the 
founder of the museum bearing his name at 
Cambridge. His chief work was entitled ‘An 
Attempt Towards a Natural History of the Fossils 
of England,” published in 1729. This book, 
published after the author’s death, contains an 
introduction by the publisher, in which he quaintly 
remarks: ‘‘He succeeded, indeed, but it was not 
without having carried it on for a course of nearly 
forty years, with a passion for the improvement of 
natural knowledge in general, and with a particular 
view to evince the universality of the Deluge.’’ 
Glancing through this book, one sees the very wide 
sense in which the term ‘fossil’? was then used ; 
for it includes minerals, metals, gems, flint-imple- 
ments, etc. So overwhelmed at the cumulating 
evidence in favour of the Deluge was Voltaire that 


GZ 


144 


he had to argue that fossils were really shells 
thrown away and left by the pilgrims to the Holy 
Land. 

As a bright star shines out in a temporary break 
in the thick-set clouds, and beams down none the 
less brightly because of its temporary eclipse, so 
Nicholas Steno appears in the darkness of his 
times. Born at Copenhagen, he became Professor 
of Anatomy at Florence, and in 1669, published a 
little treatise with the title of ‘“‘ De Solido intra 
Solidum Naturaliter contento,’’ in which he treats 
of the general principles of the interpretation of 
fossils. He gave us really definitely, for the first 
time, the scientific grounds on which this interpre- 
tation must be based, accepting as he did the 
axiom that ‘like effects imply like causes.’ Is not 
this axiom—so simple yet so important—the guiding 
principle in all science, and is it not this which alone 
renders the reading of ‘‘ Nature's infinite book of 
secrecy” possible? What were Steno’s methods? 
Long before his time collectors were puzzled and 
speculation was rife as to what were certain bodies 
which they called ‘‘glossopetre.” Attempts had 
been made to convince people that these were 
really sharks’ teeth, but all to no avail until Steno 
re-opened the question and proved to demonstra- 
tion their true nature. And how did he do this? 
By the simple method of dissecting a shark’s head 
and showing the similarity between the teeth and 
their glossopetre. He did what so many philoso- 
phers of his time disdained to do: he went to 
Nature herself. Steno’s settlement of this question 
at once led to the discussion of the uses of fossils 
in tracing out the past history of the earth, which 
was as ably followed out afterwards by William 
Smith. Steno discusses the subject in a masterly 
manner, taking as his example a portion of Tuscany, 
and his methods are followed closely by Buffon in 
his two remarkable works, the ‘‘ Théorie de la 
Terre” and the ‘‘Epoques de la Nature,” in which 
he points out clearly the teaching of fossils as to 
different climatic conditions at past periods, plant 
and animal extinction and other topics. This 
brings us to Linnzus, with whom we close our 


second period. 
(To be continued.) 


FasciaTED ATRIPLEX.—Enclosed is part of a 
fasciated stem of Atriplex patula found on a piece of 
waste ground near here. The whole stem was 
about two and a-half feet long. The top presented 
a very curious appearance, owing to the small 
racemes of fowers growing out of the flat main 
stem.—J. E. Cooper, 93, Southwood Lane, Highgate, 
N.; September 1st, 1896. 

LEPIDIUM RUDERALE IN BErKs.—I recently 
found a good quantity of Lepidium ruderale, L., 
growing on a piece of waste ground near the New- 
bury Corn Wharf. Although the plant is evidently 
of casual occurrence here, I think it is wortha note 
as there are but few records of it for the county.— 
A. B. Jackson, Mapledene, Enborne Road, Newbury. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ESSEX COUNCIL BIOLOGICAL 
STATION. 


URING the past summer session of the 
Marine Biological Station at Brightlingsea 
in Essex, the laboratory records show that the 
students made 385 attendances over and above the 
ordinary class attendance. The preservation of 
the animals of the Estuary of the Colne is 
proceeding, and a typical collection is being formed 
for reference. We further find from the annual 
report of Mr. David Houston that the work at the 
laboratory is divided into three sections, viz.: (1) 
Systematic Laboratory Teaching ; (2) Short Demon- 
strations to Occasional Visitors ; (3) Experimental 
and Consultative Work. 

Brightlingsea being adjacent to the great oyster- 
beds of the Essex coast, the life history of those 
esculent molluscs formed a never-failing attraction 
for the casual visitorsto the laboratory. Mr. William 
Bagley, the resident assistant, gave daily demon- 
strations on this subject, and on other marine 
animals, to the visitors, whose attendance exceeded 
750. These persons included all classes, fisher- 
men, dredgermen, oyster merchants, townspeople, 
yachtsmen, ordinary visitors to the sea-side, 
journalists and students from London and else- 
where. The success of the experiment of founding 
a biological station on the Essex coast has been so 
great that efforts are to be made to secure larger 
and better premises before next season. This is 
not a source of surprise when we consider that 
Brightlingsea is only about a couple of hours’ 
railway journey from London, so that students may 
avail themselves of one of the daily excursions at 
cheap fares, have a good day’s work, and return 
the same evening. Although the Essex coast has 
not the magnificent rock-pools which are found near 
Plymouth, there is abundant material at hand for 
serious workers at Brightlingsea. We feel sure 
that if continued effort is made by the local 
committee of management, sufficient attraction can 
be created to make this, at present, little station 
one of importance in the future. 
County Council is to. be congratulated on its 
admirable foresight in establishing this and other 
branches of biological educational work, so ably 
carried on in the county under the supervision of 
Mr. Houston, the staff-biologist. A winter course 
on Gardening, for youths who intend to become 
gardeners, commences in the first week in Novem- 
ber. Selected candidates are to be allowed railway 
fare and a grant towards maintenance while 
attending the course at Chelmsford. The organ of 
the department, which is published at the County 
Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford, shows how 
earnestly the work is carried on. It is the 
‘Journal of the Essex Technical Laboratories,” 
and is issued monthly at threepence per copy. 


The Essex © 


; 


gy 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


A FRESHWATER 
ByiGes 


ih [SACRE NCIC ssn Ns more especially those who 
do not neglect micro-botany, are familiar 
with the most frequent representative of the 
Floridez, or red ‘‘seaweeds,”’ that grow in fresh- 
water, namely Batrachospermum. Yet, as a rule, all 
observation of the plant is confined to a superficial 
examination under a low power of the microscope, 
and ends there. Whereas Batrachosperymum, being 
a good type of the red seaweeds, well repays a little 
extra trouble devoted to its study, and it does not 
require very skilful 
manipulation to see 
the chief points inits 
structure, including 


ALGA. 


. BRITTON. 


from its place of growth, on attempting to remove it 
from the water it has a way of slipping back through 
one’s fingers. Owing to this slimy nature the 
plant derives its generic name of Batrachospermum, 
besides which it possesses two English names 
which are evidently the invention of writers: one 
being ‘‘ frog-spawn,” a literal translation of the 
scientific name, the other, ‘‘ bead-moss,”’ a very 
inaccurate designation. If an English name is 
required, I would suggest beadwort. It is easy to 

see why the name 

‘‘bead - moss” has 

been bestowed on 

the plant, for if we 


the apical cell and a a8 examine a _ plant, 
male and _ female 4 \ or referably with a 
organs. There are An : Zp ary pocket-lens, we shall 
but few good ac- Db Oa} ae a notice that it appears 
counts in English of 4 NS to be made up of 
this alga. One of 2 NY, ‘) small dark beads 
the most accessible } rs OT suspended closely 
is that contained in SA { together on very 
Smithson’s ‘' Algz,”’ at fine threads. On the 
in the ‘‘ Young Col- Pe) older parts the beads 
lector’? Series; yet ey, have a squarish or 
the process of fer- i ; roundish outline and 
tilization described BQO stand apart from 
therein as occurring QA / yaa each other, and on 
in Batrachospermum NG the younger tapering 
is erroneous in many parts of the branches 
points when looked ary are more disc-shaped 
at in the light of 3 and placed closer 
recent researches. together, until near 
An opinion prevails, the extremities the 
I believe, that this FRESHWATER ALGA (Batvachospevmuni). bead - like arrange- 
alga is rare. It may Fig. 1, Portion of leaf with antheridia, An. Fig. 2, Procarp; ment ceases. Em- 


not be common, but 


T, trichogyne; C,carpogone. Fig.3, Cystocarp; A, trichogyne 
and spermatium. 


bedded in many of 


it is usually to be 

found in likely situa- 

tions, such as wells, 

springs and streams containing much spring water. 
In ponds and streams not spring-fed it is certainly 
rarer. When growing the plant has the appear- 
ance of consisting of short tufts of filaments 
attached to stones, etc. Its most usual tint is 
blackish, though the colour is said to range from 
green, violet, brown to black. Sometimes, when 
growing under certain conditions, the plant is al- 
most blanched, very little colouring-matter being 
developed. This form is most suitable for studying 
the structure of the plant, and the next best are green 
and blue-green forms. The surface of the plant 
is covered by a jelly-like substance, and when 
gathering the plant, while it is easy to detach it 


the bead-like parts 

may perhaps be 

noticed small grains 

of a darker colour, the fruit-bodies or cystocarps. 

It is very important to notice these, as they give 

rise to the cells that reproduce the plant, and 

these latter reproductive cells are the only means 

of increase that, as far as is known, the mature 
plant bears. 

For the further study of the alga the use of the 

compound microscope is necessary, making use 


first of all of a low power, and then it will be seen 
that in addition to being one of the most interest- 
ing of the freshwater alga, Batrachospermum 1s one 


of the prettiest. Under a power, such as a one- 
inch, the bead-like appearance will be noticed as 
due to tufts of filaments that arise at intervals in 


146 


circles round the stem, and, in the older parts, 
spread in all directions, whilst in the younger 
parts the filaments are disposed more or less 
horizontally. The filaments are much branched, 
and are formed of cells either cylindrical or 
narrowly barrel-shaped. Towards the circumfer- 
ence of the tufts may be roundish bodies, darker 
in colour and formed of short cells. These are the 
fruit-bodies or cystocarps. The further structure 
may best be seen if a small plant ora portion of 
a larger one is mounted on a slide and crushed by 
steady pressure on the cover-slip. Using a high- 
power, 4-inch, for instance, the stem is seen made 
up of longitudinal rows of cells of two forms. 
In the centre the cells are very large and forma 
single row, and around these are a number of rows 
of shorter, much narrower, cells, constituting a 
covering or kind of cortex to the larger central cells. 
The stems and branches do not at first possess this 
coriex, which is only formed on them as they 
increase in age. The way in which the cortex is 
formed is rather curious, and is very similar to the 
origin of the cortex in Chava. ‘The cortex of Chara 
is formed by branches arising from the lower parts 
of the leaves and growing upwards and down- 
wards, uniting with similar growthsaboveand below, 
to form a covering around the long central cells. 
The formation of the cortex of Batrachospermum 
differs only to the extent that the out-growths 
from the lower parts of the leaves proceed in 
one direction, irom above, downwards. Tracing 
the stem upwards, all stages in the formation of 
this cortex may be seen: the lower segments 
with a compleie investment, above these segments 
around which the down-growing filamenis have not 
yet united, and higher up segments with but the 
rudiments of the investments. 

If the cells of the stem are traced upwards, their 
length is seen to gradually lessen, and finally they 
become disc-shaped, terminating in a cell slightly 
longer and with a rounded free extremity. This is 
the apical cell, by means of which, division occur- 
ring at the lower end, elongation of the stem takes 
place. Sometimes the apical cell is obscured by 
the surrounding filaments, and then an extremity 
of one of these may be teken for it, but it can 
usually be found by tracing up the stem and 
careful focussing. In tracing np the stem there 
will be noticed lateral growing-points repeating 
the structure of the main axis, and the origin of 
the tufts of filaments, leaves as they may be called, 
arising from short cells given off from the upper 
extremities of ihe large stem-cells. 

Should an entire plant be under view that 
has carefully been removed from the surface 
on which it grew, the root should be noticed, 
consisting of long narrow rows of cells. These 
filaments, unlike the other cells of the plant, do 
not possess colouring-matter. They spread on 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


the surface of the stones, etc., attaching the plant 
to these. 

The sexual organs should now be studied. A 
plant may bear male organs (antheridia) only, or 
female organs (procarps) only. In the latter case 
it usually happens that when bearing ripe fruit 
or cystocarps they will also bear antheridia 
in addition. It is very difficult to get a view of 
a procarp before it has been fertilized. After 
fertilization it undergoes a process of growth that 
renders it easily recognizable. A procarp is formed 
from the terminal cells of a branch of a leaf. It 
consists of two parts, each with a different function. 
A larger, more conspicuous part, the trichogyne, 
with which the male fertilizing cell becomes united, 
and below this, separated by a constriction, a 
smaller part, the carpogone. It is hardly likely that 
a procarp will at once be identified, but if attention 
is given to cystocarps in various stages of develop- 
ment, proceeding from the more to the lesser 
developed, the trichogynes will be seen as club- 
shaped or spindle-shaped organs projecting from the 
latter. The rounded body at the extremity is not 
a part of the irichogyne, but is a male fertilizing 
cell that has become fused with the trichogyne. 
The male organs, antheridia, are roundish cells 
produced at the extremites of branches of the 
leaves. They are borne singly or two together 
upon the supporting cell, and, besides their shape, 
are distinguished by the light colour of their 
contents. For the purpose of effecting fertilization, 
the protoplasm, or contents of each antheridium, 
becomes liberated into the surrounding water. It 
is now a spermatium or male fertilizing cell. 
It does not possess a coating of cellulose, 
and is unprovided with any means of propul- 
sion through the water. Between the times of 
being set free and of coming into contact with a 
trichogyne, each spermatium forms arcund itself 
a firm coating of cellulose. When it comes into 
contact with a trichogyne, it becomes firmly 
attached to this. At first the surfaces that are 
applied to each other are but small, but, apparently, 
the male cell becomes compressed to an extent and 
drawn down on the trichogyne. After a time the 
spermatium puts out a very short broad tube that 
peneirates the wall of the trichogyne, and the 
portion of cell-wall in contact with the tube dis- 
appears. There is now an open channel between 
the male cell and the trichogyne, the width of 
which varies, being greater or smaller. It is often 
the case that more than one spermatium becomes 
applied to a trichogyne, and then the most frequent 
numbers are two or three, though as many as seven 
spermatia may attach to one trichogyne. In these 
cases of more than one spermatium becoming 
attached to a trichogyne, the usual position of the 
cells is as follows: one male cell occupies the 
extreme apex, and the others are disposed on the 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


sides. Sometimes two male cells share the apex, 
and sometimes it occurs that a male cell becomes 
applied, not to the trichogyne, but to a male cell 
which is already seated there. In all cases of 
more than one male cell becoming attached to 
a trichogyne, it is said that only one forms an 
open channel with the trichogyne, the others 
having no function. It might be inferred that, as 
an opening exists between the spermatium and the 
trichogyne, the protoplasm, or the nucleus of the 
former organ, passes over into the latter to effect 
fertilization. However, recent observations seem 
to indicate that it is a matter of indifference 
whether the nucleus or any portion of protoplasm 
enters the trichogyne. 

Indeed, the process of fertilization is so peculiar 
in Batrachospeymum, that it is a matter of opinion 
whether it is a true sexual action or not. In the 
first place, no oosphere or female cell is formed 
from the protoplasm of the carpogone; secondly, 
if the nucleus of the spermatium enters the 
trichogyne it is said to remain in the upper part, 
and does not unite with the nucleus of the 
trichogyne or the nucleus of the carpogone. It 
even occurs occasionally that protoplasm and 
nucleus of the trichogyne will pass over into the 
male cell. Following closely upon the appearance 
of the opening between the male cell and the 
trichogyne, a deposition of cellulose takes place 
inside the procarp, gradually separating the tricho- 
gyne from the carpogone. ‘This separation may be 
perfect, or it may be of such a character that a 
narrow Cavity exists, in which, however, no pro- 
toplasm remains. Short protuberances are now 
given out from the carpogone, and, growing in 
length, become divided into short cells. The fila- 
ments branch, and the carpogone becomes hidden 
by these, which radiate on all sides. This growing 
body is the developing fruit or cystocarp, and the 
only part of the procarp which remains visible is 
the trichogyne, with attached spermatia. The 
trichogyne does not wither away, but remains per- 
sistent. Some of the filaments growing from the car- 
pagone constitute an investment, or loose covering, 
to the cystocarp ; others are fertile, and terminate 
in rounded cells, carposporangia, that each contain 
a single propagative body, known as a carpospore. 

A carpospore does not develop into a Batracho- 
spermum plant, but into a plant totally different. 
A carpospore gives origin to a kind of crustaceous 
pellicle covering the surfaces of stones, etc. It is 
composed of irregular filaments, sometimes united 
into globular masses. In the perennial species of 
Batrachospermum it is this structure which enables 
the plants to persist. It is capable of growth and 
reproduction, increasing at the circumference, and 
reproducing itself by spores. From this peculiar 
structure arise broad tufts of filaments, each con- 
sisting of a row of cells, and producing spores similar 


147 


to those of the plant on which the tufts arise. 
Since this form can reproduce itself through a 
number of generations, it has long been regarded 
as a distinct genus, under the name of Chantransia. 
The freshwater species of Chantransia live on the 
most shaded sides of wells, etc., developing chiefly 
in darkness, whilst the Batvachospermum form seeks 
the light. Portions of the Chantransia form, under- 
going differences in cell division, grow into the 
perfect Batrachospermum plant, which, producing 
roots, becomes independent. 

This account of Batrachospermum, incomplete as 
it is, would be more so if no mention was made of 
the following. The American botanist, to whom 
we owe the latest information on the subject of the 
fertilization of this alga, set himself to answer the 
following. Seeing there is no union of the proto- 
plasm of the male cell with that of the female 
organ, was it necessary for the production of fruit 
that a male cell should unite with the trichogyne ? 
And he found this was necessary, for, when he 
grew, under their natural conditions, female plants 
isolated from male plants, so that the male cells 
could not come into contact with the trichogynes, the 
procarps or female organs did not develop into fruit. 

189, Beresford Street, Camberwell, S.E. 


THE, NEW  BRITISHY MOLEUSG: 
By J. E. Cooper. 


pPEBCOES pholadiformis, Lawk, is a native of 

North America, it ranges from Prince 
Edward's Isle to St. Thomas. In this country it 
appears to have been first noticed by Mr. Walter 
Crouch, F.Z.S., at Burnham-on-Crouch, about four 
years ago. The first specimen found was a dead 
shell, but Mr. Crouch has since obtained living 
examples at the same place. In the spring of this 
year Mr. A. S. Kennard found this species alive 


Petricola pholadiformis, Lawk. 


near Herne Bay, and the writer picked up several 
dead specimens on the shore near Sandwich. It 
thus appears to be established in both the River 
Crouch and the Thames estuary. How it got there 
in the first instance is not certain, though probably 
it was introduced with American oysters. This 
Petvicola bears a very striking external resemblance 
to the common Pholas candida, and may have been 
passed over by collectors mistaking it for that species. 
93, Southwood Lane, Highgate, N. 


G3 


148 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


STRUCTURAL FEATURES IN AMERICAN ROTIFPERA, 


By Dr. ALFRED C. STOKES. 


(Continued from page 122.) 


TAPHROCAMPA SELENURA, Gosse. 


ee interesting larviform creature is not com- 
mon in my vicinity, but from a single shallow 
pool near my home it has been taken sparingly, the 
locality having, perhaps, supplied me with half-a- 
dozen specimens, over which I have observed a few 
structural points which appear not hitherto to have 
been noticed. The rotiferon is an untidy animal, 
its cuticular surface always being more or less 
defiled by adherent particles of various kinds, while 
the creature itself has a fondness for rooting 
among dead matter, and for eating even the 
excrement of worms and of aquatic snails. 

Gosse says nothing about the antennz ; Iassume, 
therefore, that he failed to see them. Still, in all 
his descriptions, he almost systematically omits 
references to these organs, which should have been 
included in every diagnosis, even at the risk of 
repetition and of a loss of rhetorical grace. No 
one would voluntarily go to a technical monograph 
with the expectation of meeting with the beauties 
of rhetoric, nor with quotations from Latin poetry, 
nor with a supply of ‘‘elegant extracts.’’ Space 
occupied by literary graces would better be filled 
with complete descriptions of the objects treated. 

It may be that the American forms of Taphro- 
campa are varieties of the European, with the 
antennz and the frontal cilia well developed, while 
in the British specimens these parts are obscure. 
In my specimens of T. selenwra, there are two dorsal 
antennz at the front, each a setigerous, truncated 
lobule, while the lateral ones are minute papille, 
elongated and setigerous. The frontal cilia are 
short and fine, but well developed, filling an 
entirely prone, obovate field, about one-fifth the 
length of the body. They are visible only in 
lateral orin ventral view. The brain is not entirely 
opaque, the opacity being confined to a granular 
mass in the posterior region, yet there is reason 
to believe that the opacity increases, or at least 
changes, with the age of the animal. 

The cesophagus is long and conspicuous, and an 
ovoid gastric gland is adherent to each frontal 
shoulder of the stomach. Within the stomach and 
across the entrance of the cesophagus is again the 
membraniform but really tubular organ so often 
referred to in other American rotifera, it being 
here, as elsewhere, an actual prolongation of the 
cesophagus. Its undulations are constant, but 
when food is passing through the cesophagus the 
movements become bewilderingly rapid, especially 
so as the observer has to contend with the constant 


writhings of the animal itself, such conditions 
making it impossible to decide positively that the 
food particles do pass through this tube, although 
they may be flowing into the stomach in a steady 
stream. Does this internal appendage exist with 
Taphrocampa saudersig, Gosse, and with T. annulosa, 
Gosse? These species have been taken in this 
country only in the State of Michigan, by Mr. H. 
S. Jennings, who gives no notes of their structure. 
If it is present in T. clavigera (1) I failed to notice it. 
Neither were the lateral antennz seen on that 
species, although they must be present. 

The entire alimentary canal of T. selenuva is 
ciliated. When the posterior region is empty, the 
organ is a continuous, uninterrupted tube. But 
when the posterior portion contains excrementitious 
matters, a constriction occludes the lumen, thus 
temporarily dividing the tube into two subequal 
parts functionally distinct. The contractile vesicle 
is single, comparatively large, and ventrad to the 
intestine near the posterior extremity. Several 
flame-cells are visible on each side of the alimentary 
canal. Auricles are present, but seldom protruded. 
In the few instances in which I have seen them, 
they appeared to be cup-shaped, the cilia lining the 
concavity and the margins; but they may not have 
been fully expanded, as the animals were not then 
in a comfortable situation. 


PHILODINA ACULEATA, Ehr. 


The American specimens which I have seen are 
not nearly so deeply coloured as shown in Gosse’s 
figure, but are, as a rule, only faintly tinged with 
brown. The body is densely and finely papillose, 
a feature not mentioned in the diagnosis of the 
genus, and therefore presumably not present with 
European forms. The frontal column is ciliated 
as described, but it also bears a small cucullate 
appendage at the tip, this “little hood overhanging 
and partly surrounding the cilia. The species is 
not uncommon in this part of New Jersey, where I 
have captured it during the summer, and taken it 
from under the ice in February. 


PHILODINA CITRINA, Ebr. 

The body of the European form is said to be 
smooth; the American species are minutely papil- 
lose, and almost as conspicuously fluted as is 
Rotifer vulgaris. 

SCARIDIUM LONGICAUDUM, Ehr. 
Gosse’s statement that the eyes are permanently 
(4) Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., July, 1896. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


attached to the mastax is correct. The eye moves 
with the mastax, and seems to have no connection 
whatever with the cerebral ganglion. 


MOoNOSTYLA QUADRIDENTATA, Ehr. 


This species, or its American variety, occurs 
here, but is not common. I have never captured 
it until during the present summer (1896), and 
then not more than half a dozen specimens. It 
agrees well with the British form as described, but 
it also possesses the undulating tube within the 
stomach and continuous with the cesophagus, 
which was not noticed by Gosse, nor recorded by 
other observers, but which I have learned to 
expect and to look for in American Rotifera of a 
certain character. On the dorsal surface of the 
toe is a minute conical papilla, placed so close to 
the distal border of the single-jointed foot that it 
barely projects beyond the margin. In some speci- 
mens I have thought that I could observe minute 
sete at its tip, but this is by no means certain. The 
contractile vesicle is large, elongate-ovoid, and 
placed parallel with the median line on the right- 
hand side. The lorica is rather coarsely punctate. 


PTERODINA PATINA, Ehr. 


Gosse says in his generic description, ‘‘I have 
failed to find any dorsal antenna.’’ In the Ameri- 
can form the dorsal antenna is a single, minute 
papilla, with an obscurely developed cluster of 
sete, and situated in the median line at about one- 
third the length of the lorica from the front, being 
nearly in a direct line with the two rather con- 
spicuous lateral antenne. It is seated above a 
liguliform lobe of the cerebral ganglion, and shows 
a conspicuous rocket-shaped nerve thread, but 
whether or not this thread is above or within the 
ganglionic lobe is not easily determined, although 
it is probably above it. 

These are all minute anatomical points, but 
insignificant and unimportant as they may seem to 
the general reader, yet they are of value and of 
great interest to the microscopical student. I 
publish them here rather than in my country, in 
the hope that the microscopical readers of ScIENCE- 
Gossip may have these British species so favour- 
ably placed that they may be able to decide 
whether or not the animals possess the same 
peculiarities as the American forms, or whether 
climate, environment or some unsuspected cause 
has made these American Rotifera to vary from 
those bearing the same name in Europe. But it 
seems hardly possible that the undulating stomachal 
tube should be so conspicuously developed in 
these American Rotifera and entirely absent from 
the British. This alone is an anatomical feature 
worth examining, and its presence or absence 
worth deciding. 

Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.A. ; 
September st, 1896. 


149 


THE THANET SANDS. 
THANK Mr. Barham for his remarks in the 
October number of Science-Gossip (ante p. 

129), and have been much interested in them. He 
rightly says Bishopstone Dell, near Herne Bay, 
runs back less than a quarter of a mile inland. 
The gully, also, is about fifty feet deep. Its base 
is the same as sea-level at high tide. A coast- 
guard tells me that in rainy weather there is a small 
stream flowing at the base of the gully. Although 
with so short a length, it even now apparently has 
a watershed. Mr. Barham says, “ It is fairly 
proved that the land has been eaten by the 
sea,’’ Whereis there proof? He says he has been 
compelled to theorise about an actual sinking of the 
land hereabouts. But why? He does not say. 
The Whitstable ‘Street,’ to which I made no 
reference, I grant is possibly formed as stated by 
Mr. Barham, and his remarks about it were of a 
very interesting nature. It bears a resemblance in 
its formation to the far-famed Chesil Beach. In 
concluding, Mr. Barham refers me to the little 
stream at Hampton, but, as it seems to me, only to 
support my point. Now, as he says, this is a little 
stream with an old bed nearly a quarter of a mile 
wide. But why this former great width and the 
present tiny stream? A stream can silt itself up 
to a certain point, but it cannot extinguish itself 
over a width of the greater part of a quarter of a 
mile. There must be something to assist it. What 
isit? I suggest it must be a rising land, which 
has moved the drainage in another direction. Still, 
there is all the difference between Bishopstone Dell, 
where the occasional stream flows at the bottom of 
a gully fifty feet deep, and where the Thanet sand- 
cliffs are visible almost to the bottom of the gully, 
little or no alluvium being present, and the stream 
at Hampton, where the Eocene formations are 
hidden by a thickness of alluvium, or river-drift, 
where there are no cliffs to speak of, and the whole 
district is but a few inches above the level of the 


sea at high water. 
Epwp. A. MARTIN. 
69, Bensham Manor Road, 
Thornton Heath. 


“CAMBRIDGE NatTurAL History.'’'— Messrs. 
Macmillan and Co., of Bedford Street, London, 
announce that the next volume of the ‘‘ Cambridge 
Natural History "’ will be issued in a few weeks. 
It will be upon various kinds of worms, and will 
give an impetus to that little-worked group of 
animals. The new volume will be vol. ii. of the 
series. The subjects and names of authors are to 
be as follows: Flatworms, by F. W. Gamble, M.Sc. 
Vict., Owens College; Nemertines, by Miss L. 
Sheldon, Newnham College, Cambridge ; Thread- 
worms, &c., by A. E. Shipley, M.A., of Christ's 
College, Cambridge; Rotifers, by Marcus M. 
Hartog, M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge, D.Sc. 
Lond., Professor of Natural History in the Queen's 
College, Cork. 


G 4 


150 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


CHARACTERISTIC BRANCHING OF BRITISH FOREST-TREES. 


By THE Rey. W. H. Purcuas. 


(Continued from page 95.) 


THE HorsE-CHESTNUT. 

LTHOUGH the horse-chestnut (2 sculus hippo- 
castanum, L.) is not a native of Britain, 
having apparently been introduced from Asia, this 
noble tree has so long been known and is so often 
planted for the sake of ornament that it may well 

claim a place with others in these notes. 
Position of leaves.—The large leaves, divided ‘to 


the base into seven lobes and borne on peduncles 
which are often nine inches or more in length, are 
ranged in opposite pairs as in the ash. Hence the 


branches which arise from their axillary buds are 
in opposite pairs also, at least when all the axillary 


internodes, varying from one to several inches in 
length. The larger of the yearly shoots close up at 

\ the end of summer into a win- 
ter bud, which contains the 
inflorescence ready to burst 
forth in the following spring. 
This terminal bud is often 
accompanied by a pair of 
leaf-buds formed in the axils 
of the last pair of leaves. 
These leaf-buds give rise 
in the next season to leafy 
shoots which do not, until 


Horse-CHESTNUT (42 sculus hippocastanum). 


buds are developed, for it frequently happens, as it 
does also in the ash, that one of a pair of buds 
remains dormant and gradually perishes. 

Position of fowers.—Theinflorescenceis terminal, 
as in the sycamore, but on a much more lengthened 
leafy shoot. In the sycamore one or at most two 
short joints separate the group of flowers from the 
end of the last year’s wood, while in the horse- 
chestnut a shoot of at least three joints intervenes. 
Some of these joints are as much as three or four 
inches long ; thus the whole yearly growth, includ- 
ing the panicle or thyrse of flowers, will sometimes 
reach a length of eighteen or twenty inches. 

Length of joints or internodes.—The yearly shoot 
seems to be completed more rapidly than in most 
trees. It consists of few (three or more) but long 


a future year, acquire the robustness which 
seems to be needful for forming an inflores- 
cence in their terminal bud. I may remark 
that when the winter buds swell and open and 
throw off their scales the internodes between these 
latter do not lengthen as do those between the 
young leaves; thus their position is indicated by 
a little band of scars, and such bands of scars 
point out the starting-point of each season’s 
growth. 

Angle made with the main stem or branch.— 
The angle at which the lesser branches leave 
their parent branch is less than half a right-angle ; 
thus the pair of branchlets which are developed 
from the buds formed in the axils of the pair of 
leaves nearest to the inflorescence do not start off 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


at a wide angle as in the sycamore, but take a 
more parallel line of growth, thus affecting 
materially the general features of the tree. The 
yearly shoots are unusually thick, even more so 
than in the ash, and hence they have a degree 
of stiffness of appearance, especially in winter. 
Whilst young, they take an upward direction, but 
as one year’s growth is added to another the 
branch is bent downward by the weight, and only 
the younger sprays are able to maintain their 
ascending tendency. 

The beauty of the horse-chestnut in its flowering 
state is familiar to all, as is its wealth of rich 
foliage. No hardy tree of equal size can at all 
compare with it as regards display of floral beauty, 
but its foliage when it has lost the freshness of 
early growth and the delicacy and warmth of its 


HorseE-CuHEStTNuT. Autumn State. 


spring tint, is apt to seem dull and heavy, the 
leaves having with the advancing season increased 
greatly in size so as to overlap each other and 
Prevent the varied effects of light and shadow, 
which give such a charm to trees where the 
extremities of the branches are more separated, 
and, as Gilpin expresses it, ‘‘ hang with a degree of 
looseness from the fulness of the foliage which 
‘occupies the middle of the tree.’’ As, however, 
the horse-chestnut advances in age, this defect 
becomes less and less apparent, through the 
ancreasing weight and length of the branches, 
which leads to their hanging more loosely from 
each other, and thus giving more freedom to the 
play of light and shadow. 


(To be continued.) 


151 
NORFOLK NATURALISTS. 


NGHEE TING of the Norfolk and Norwich Natura- 

lists’ Society was held in the Castle Museum, 
on September 2oth, the President (Sir F. G. M. 
Boileau, Bart.) in the chair. Mr. J. H. Gurney 
contributed some notes on resemblance in species, 
remarking that among birds there is an undoubted 
tendency to vary not infrequently in plumage, so as 
to resemble other allied species which inhabit a 
different geographical area. This tendency will 
now and then furnish a key to the supposed 
appearances of birds in a country remote from 
their own, for it may be surmised that such are not 
invariably the exotic stragglers which their colours 
lead them to be considered. A paper on ‘‘ Verte- 
brate and Plant Lifeon Ben Nevis,” by Col. Feilden 


Showing Winter Buds. 


(read by Mr. H. G. Geldart), described an ascent of 
that mountain on August 27th last. The remains 
of three male snow-buntings, lately killed, were 
found at sixty-six feet below the summit, their 
death probably due to a hawk, though no small 
hawk has been seen near the observatory. At least 
three if not four broods of these birds have been 
hatched out this season near the top of Ben Nevis, 
but their nests have not been found. On August 
25th, the Observatory cat brought in a shrew 
mouse, Sorex minutus, which must have been caught 
very near the summit. Sixty-six feet below the 
Ordnance Cairn, and 4,340 feet above the sea, three 
flowering plants were found, Saxifraga stellaris, S., 
a Carex and a grass; this is probably the most ele- 
vated locality for flowering-plants in Great Britain. 


152 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


SAILING FLIGHT-OF BIRDS. 


By G. BH. BRYAN, ScD. E_R-S, 


ie is not often that papers read before the 

Mathematical and Physical Section of the 
British Association possess a biological interest, 
but the flight of birds is a subject of importance alike 
to physicists, to biologists, and to engineers, who 
hope sooner or later to reproduce this form of 
locomotion by mechanical means, and accordingly 
_ we have invited Dr. Bryan to furnish us with an 
abstract of a paper read by him last September, 
which he has kindly sent us, with additional 
notes.— Ep. 


SAILING FLIGHT OF BIRDS. 


That birds are, under certain circumstances, 
capable of supporting themselves indefinitely in the 
air without expending energy by flapping their 
wings is a matter of common observation. To 
account for this apparent realization of “‘ perpetual 
motion,” various theories have been proposed, 
among which the most important are the three 
which suppose the seat of available energy to lie in: 

(1) Upward air-currents (Mr. Maxim). 

(2) Variations of the wind-velocity at different 
heights above the ground (Lord Rayleigh). ~ 

(3) Variations of the wind-velocity from one 
instant to another, the wind habitually blowing in 
gusts separated by lulls (Professor Langley and 
others). 

Before proceeding further, another source of 
energy may be mentioned, namely, the presence of 
vortices, 7.e, Miniature whirlwinds or cyclones in 
the atmosphere. Even on a perfectly calm day 
one of these little vortices may sometimes be seen 
travelling across a road, carrying up a funnel- 
shaped cloud of dust. According to mathematical 
theory, a vortex always consists of the same 
particles of fluid: and, even under the modified 
conditions which occur in nature, our experience 
of cyclones tells us that such vortices are remark- 
able for their persistency, and their motions are so 
regular that it would be easy for birds to take 
advantage of them. This would account for the 
fact that birds so often congregate in a certain spot 
when in sailing flight. 

Against the third hypothesis has been objected : 

(i.) That to take advantage of every puff of wind 
in such a way as to be lifted by it would be a 
difficult feat of aérial gymnastics, whereas birds 
appear to circle in the air without requiring to 
exercise any particular alertness or agility. 

(ii.) That the variations in wind-velocity are not 
sufficient to sustain the weight of a bird in the air. 

In answer to the first objection, it is to be ob- 
served that if the bird’s centre of mass is slightly 


below the wing-surface—especially if the wings are 
slightly curved upwards, as described by Mr. S. E. 
Peel in a letter to Nature for August 6th, 1896—the 
action would be purely automatic. We may illus- 
trate this point perhaps better by considering the 
parallel effect in the seeds of many composite plants 
(such as the common ‘ dandelion’), which are sup- 
ported in the air by a parachute placed at some 
distance above them. If a sudden gust of wind 
blows upon such a seed, the parachute is set in 
motion more rapidly than the seed, causing the 
whole to heel over so as to receive the wind on the 
under surface of the parachute, and this lifts the 
seed. When the wind subsides, the greater inertia 
of the seed carries it on in front of the parachute, 
causing the latter to again present its under side to 
the air, which again lifts the seed. The more the 
seed is blown about, the more it rises in the air. 
This action would take place automatically in the 


same way in any body whose supporting parachute, 


aéroplane, or wing-surface was slightly above its 
centre of mass. The height of the supporting 
surface should not be too great, otherwise the 
body would heel over too much, and would make 
so great an angle with the horizon that the lift 
would be considerably reduced. The effect evi- 
dently depends on the inertia of the body, and the 
lift could therefore be increased by increasing the 
body’s mass. But this would also increase the 
weight of the body in the same proportion, so that 
no advantage would be gained. The difficulty is 
overcome in the case of the sailing bird by the 
increased buoyancy which it is able to obtain from 
the air in consequence of the horizontal speed at 
which it travels, and herein, to my mind, lies the 
answer tothesecond objection. Professor Langley(}) 
has found (1) that a horizontal plane under the 
action of gravity falls to the ground more slowly if 
it is travelling through the air with horizontal 
velocity than it would do if-allowed to fall verti- 
cally, and (2) that the horse-power required to 
support a body in horizontal flight by means of an 
aéroplane is less for high than for low speeds. 
Hence it readily follows that the bird’s forward 
motion causes it to fall through a smaller height 
between successive gusts of wind than it would do 
if it were at rest, and that when a side wind strikes 
the bird (7.2c.a wind at right angles to the bird’s 
course), the lift is considerably increased in con- 
sequence of the bird’s forward Velocity. 

According to this theory, the sailing bird derives 
its energy from fluctuations in the wind-velocity, 
which causes it to strike the bird at right angles to 


(+) ‘Experiments on Aérodynamics.” 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


its course. Such side winds would, in particular, 
be brought into action first on one side and then on 
the other, whenever the bird passed through the 
centre of an atmospheric vortex. The exact part 
played by variations of wind-velocity in the direction 
of the bird’s course is more difficult to understand, 
but it seems improbable that such variations alone 
could account for the phenomena. If the bird were 
moving slowly enough to receive the wind some- 
times in front and sometimes from behind, it 
would at intermediate instants be at rest relative to 
the wind, and would then obtain the minimum 
degree of support. If it were moving rapidly 
through the air the latter would always strike the 
bird in front so that its horizontal motion would 
be constantly retarded. 

Anyone watching a flock of birds will observe 
that they often actually ave carried up by a sudden 
side-gust of wind in the manner here described, 
showing that if this is not the only cause of the 
phenomena presented by the sailing bird, it is at 
any rate one of the causes. So much has been 
written on the subject that it is impossible to say 
how far these remarks may have been anticipated 
by other writers, but I think they may help to 
clear up some of the difficulties which have been 
experienced in accounting for the sailing of birds. 

The above paper was written at Cambridge, 
where very few birds are observed to ‘‘sail” for 
any considerable length of time. The explana- 
tions which were suggested purely by theoretical 
considerations obtained a striking confirmation in 
the course of the excursion of the British Association 
to the Atlantic steamer ‘‘Campania,’’ when the 
author was enabled to watch the gulls sailing on 
the River Mersey. A strong wind was blowing at 
the time, so that when the gulls were at rest, the 
effect was precisely the same as it the birds were 
moving through still air with a velocity equal and 
opposite to that of the wind. It was observed 
that every now and then the wind would swerve 
round in direction so as to strike the gulls sideways. 
When this happened the birds would heel over on 
one side so as to catch the side-wind on the under- 
side of their wings, and immediately rise in the air. 

Some writers have suggested that the actual 
velocity of the wind and not the variations of this 
velocity constitutes the source from which the bird 
derives its energy. Buta knowledge of the laws of 
mechanics shows that a wniform current of air does 
not possess any more energy available for a bird 
floating freely in it than does a mass of air at rest. 
In the discussion following the reading of the paper, 
Professor G. F. Fitzgerald, who has himself made 
some experiments with artificial wings, pointed out 
that such fallacious arguments were readily met by 
the consideration that the whole of the earth’s 
atmosphere, in consequence of the earth’s orbital 
motion round the sun, is moving at the enormous 


153 


rate of eighteen miles a second. If we are not able 
to easily support ourselves in the air in a wind 
blowing with this enormous velocity, we thus 
surely have sufficient proof that a uniform wind is 
not capable in itself of supporting a bird. 

It is different in the case of a kite fastened to the 
ground with a string. Here the difference of velocity 
of the wind and ground—in other words the relative 
motion of the wind as compared with the point of 
support—furnishes a source of available energy, and 
the effect is the same whether the air is in motion 
and the point of attachment is fixed, or the air is at 
rest and the kite is being drawn along by a string. 


Cambridge; October, 1896. 


RHYNCHOLOPHUS PLUMIPES, 
By C. F. GEorGE. 


ba [ae beautiful and very wonderful looking 

mite has not (so far as I can ascertain) been 
recorded as found in the British Isles. When I 
first saw it I thought it was new to science, but my 
friend, Mr. Michael, informs me that 
originally found by Lucas, in Algeria (Annal Soc. 
Entom. France, 4 ser. t. iv., p. 206.), and has also 
been figured by Haller (‘‘Zur Kentniss der 
Schweizerischen Milbenfauna,’ Zeitsch. Wiss., 
1880); it has also been found in Switzerland, and 
abundantly in Corfu. 

The specimen was found early in August, 1894, 
by Mr. W. A. Luff, of Guernsey, on the sand-hillsin 
St. Owen’s Bay, Jersey. When he found it, it was 
moving pretty quickly and carrying its posterior 
brush-like legs elevated in the air. It is, when 
alive, of a beautiful scarlet colour, and scattered 
over its body are a number of club-like hairs. 

The Rhyncholophide form Koch’s second 
family of earth-mites, and are mostly very hand- 
some creatures when alive, rejoicing in various 
beautiful shades of crimson, yellow and black, 
well deserving their name of ornament-mites. 
They are somewhat difficult to mount in balsam, 
and, of course, fluid removes a'l their splendid 
colours; their legs, also, are difficult to arrange, 
they are very delicate, and have a tendency to curl 
up. The best way to kill them for mounting is, I 
think, to pour boiling water suddenly over them 
whilst they are moving. They resemble closely 
Koch’s first family of earth-mites, the Trombidide 
or velvet mites, so well known by the rather 
common but very beautiful Tvombidium holosericeum, 
found often in our gardens. The position of the 
eyes, as well as their structure, easily distinguish 
the two families from each other. Koch figures 
and describes eighteen species, but Rhyncholophus 
plumipes is not one of them, as it was unknown to that 
author. It would be interesting to know of what use 
to the creature can be the curious brush-like tarsi. 


it was 


Kirton-in-Lindsey. 


154 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ARMATURE OF HELICOID LANDSHELLS. 
By G. K. Gube, F.Z.S. 


(Continued from page 128.) 


II. PLEecTopytis. 

is! the genus Plectopylis, now to be considered, we 
find the armature more complicated than in 
Covilla. In the latter, we have seen the parietal 
plates to be invariably more or less horizontal, 
and the palatal plates—normally four in number— 
to be either horizontal or oblique, and always 
simple. The species of Plectopylis, however, are 
characterized by the possession of vertical as well 
as horizontal barriers, which in some cases are 
double, frequently bifurcate or ramified, and the 
plates or folds are often very numerous. The genus 
contains a far greater number of species than 
Corilla (more than fifty being known), and it hasa 
much wider range, being found over the whole of 
the Indian Peninsula, including the Himalayan 
Range, Burma, Cambodia, Tongkin, extending north 
to Central China, with three species in Ceylon, 
and a reputed single outlier in the Andaman Islands. 
The Philippine Islands are credited with four species, 
but the absence of a vertical barrier on the parietal 
wall renders their position in the genus somewhat 
doubtful; as the anatomy of the soft parts, how- 
ever, has rot, to my knowledge been studied, it 
may be advisable for the present to retain these 
four species in Plectopylis. Many of the species are 

sinistral; dextrorsity, however, is the rule. 
Plectopylis andersoni (figs. 17a-c), which was des- 
cribed by Mr. W. T. Blanford, in the ‘‘ Proceed- 
ings of the Zoological Society”’’ for 1869, p. 448, 


Fig. 17.—Plectopylis anderson. 


was found near Bhamo and Ava, in Upper 
Burma, and on the Yun-nan frontier. It isa 
solid, disc-shaped shell, measuring 24 to 26 


millimetres in diameter, of a light brown colour, 
with alternating streaks of a lighter shade on the 
upper surface. It is composed of eight whorls, 
distinctly ribbed above and below, and very 
regularly decussated above by raised spiral lines 
reaching as far as the apex of the shell, the base is 
also spirally sculptured, but the sculpture is less 
distinct ; the mouth of the shell is unarmed, but the 
parietal callus forms a raised curved ridge which is 


distinctly free at both ends from the peristome. 
The armature, which is comparatively simple, 
occurs a little beyond the middle of the last whorl, 
and consists of a simple strong vertical plate on the 
parietal wall (see fig. 17a), giving off at its upper 
extremity a very small horizontal tooth on the 
posterior side and a short horizontal lamella, 
I, 5 millimetres long, on the anterior side, while 
at its lower extremity there is a slight callus on | 
the posterior side. The vertical parietal plate 
is shown sideways in fig. 17), where also the 
palatal teeth are seen as they appear from the 
posterior end. Fig. 17c, gives the inside view of 
the outer wall, exhibiting the palatal armature. 
The palatal armature consists of four principal 
horizontal lamellae terminating posteriorly in a 
triangular conical tooth; above these are: first 
a minute tooth, and secondly, higher up, a small 
fold near the suture, while at the base of the 
palatal wall are also: first a minute tooth, and 
secondly, nearer the suture, a small fold. The 
specimen figured is from Mr. Ponsonby’s collection. 

Plectopylis brachydiscus (figs. 18a-c) was described 
and figured by Lieut.-Colonel Godwin-Austen, in the 
** Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ xlviii. 


Fig. 18.—Plectopylis brachydiscus. 


(1879), p. 2, t. 1, f. 1, from specimens found on the 
high range of Mulé-it, east of Moulmein, Tenasserim. 
As in that work, however, the palatal arma- 
ture is not figured, I am glad to be able to 
supplement the figures there given. The speci- 
men now figured, from Mr.*Ponsonby’s collection, 
is old and weatherworn, and it does not possess 
the marginal fringe of hairs shown in Lieut.-Colonel 
Godwin-Austen’s figure. The shell is described 
as being of a dull umber brown; it is disk- 
shaped and regularly coiled, consisting of seven 
whorls, finely ribbed and spirally striated above; 
it measures 19 millimetres in diameter. The 
peristome is strongly reflected and the parietal 
callus has a strong, raised, flexuous ridge, 
separated from the peristome, and has, in 
addition, about the middle, a free lamella, 3 
millimetres long (see fig. 18a). The parietal 
armature consists further of a broad, vertical 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


plate, angulated above, and giving off at its lower 
end towards the aperture, a horizontal plate, 4 
millimetres long, which slopes abruptly towards 
the parietal wall and gradually loses itself, while 
on the posterior side there is a very short ridge 
abruptly sloping obliquely downwards (see figs. 
18a and b); about the middle of the vertical 
plate a free horizontal plate occurs, about 7 
millimetres long, separated from the vertical plate 
by a distance of x millimetre, decreasing in 
height as it approaches the aperture, and 
then suddenly terminating (see fig. 184.) The 
palatal armature is very curious (see fig. 18c, 
which shows it iz sitw), and consists of six folds: 
the first straight and horizontal; the second also 
straight and horizontal, but with a small bifurca- 
tion at the posterior end; the third partly horizontal 
and deflecting posteriorly at an obtuse angle; 
the fourth very short horizontally, descending ver- 
tically for a short distance and then deflecting 
posteriorly; the fifth very short, flexuous, and nearly 
vertical; while, finally, the sixth is again almost 
horizontal. A little below, and to the left of the 
sixth fold, is a small tooth, while above, posteriorly 
to the first fold, and almost in a line with the bifur- 
cation of the second fold, are three minute teeth. 
Plectopylis perarcta (figs. 194-c) was described by 
Mr. Blanford in the “‘ Journal of the Asiatic Society 
of Bengal,” xxxiv. (1865), part 2, p. 75, and first 
figured by Dr. L. Pfeiffer in ‘‘ Novitates Con- 
chologicae,”’ iii. (1867-1869), t. 108, f. 13-15. The 


Fig. 19.—Plectopylis perarcta. 


armature was figured by Lieut.-Colonel Godwin- 
Austen in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological 
Society” for 1874, t. 74, f. 4. The species was 
discovered at Mya Leit Doung, near Ava, Upper 
Burmah, but the specimen now figured is from 
Hlindet, and is in the collection of Mr. Ponsonby. 
The shell is sinistral, disk-shaped, somewhat thin and 
fragile, and composed of six closely-coiled whorls, 
ribbed regularly above, smoother below, widely and 
deeply umbilicated. It measures 10 millimetres 
in diameter. The parietal armature is composed 
of a broad vertical plate, angulated above, but 
gradually decreasing towards the base, where it 
is also slightly deflected posteriorly. A horizontal 
lamella rises anteriorly about its middle, very close 
to it, yet distinctly separate (see fig. rga), 
proceeding parallel to the whorl, deflecting with 
it towards the aperture and joining the raised 
flexuous bilobed ridge of the parietal callus, which 


155 


is separate from the peristome (see fig. ro¢). 
Another horizontal but very short lamella, below 
the principal one, also rises close to the vertical 
plate; a short free horizontal lamella is seen below 
the vertical plate, but it does not pass beyond it 
posteriorly (see fig. 19a; this third horizontal 
lamella is also shown sideways in figs. 19h and c). 
Lieut.-Colonel Godwin-Austen, in comparing the 
present species with Plectopylis pseudophis, states 
that the horizontal lamella is not continuous, and 
it is shown to be interrupted in his figure (Proc. 
Zool. Soc., 1874, p. 609, t. 74, f. 4), and again, in 
describing Plectopylis brachydiscus (Journ. Asiat. 
Soc., Bengal, xlviii. (1879), p. 2), he informs us 
that that species resembles P. ferarcta in this 
respect. The specimen here figured, however, has 
the principal horizontal lamella continuous, a fact 
which induced me at first to doubt the specific 
identity of the shell figured by me with P. pferarcta, 
but as the second horizontal lamella is joined to 
the vertical plate in P. pseudophis and in my 
specimen this lamella is quite free, as stated to 
be the casein P. perarcta, it is evident that my 
shell is not P. pseudophis ; moreover, Mr. Blanford, 
in describing the shell, states that from the centre 
of the curved ridge at the aperture, ‘‘a lamella 
runs up the whorl towards the parietal plication.” 
It may, therefore, safely be assumed that in 
the type specimen the horizontal lamella is 
not interrupted, and the question arises whether 
the shell figured by Lieut.- Colonel Godwin- 
Austen was perfect in having the horizontal 
plate interrupted in the manner described. The 
palatal armature is simple, and consists of four 
short, somewhat strong horizontal folds, equi- 
distant and parallel, with a smaller one above, 
close to the suture, and two small ones in a line 
with each other below, also near the suture (see 
figs. 19) and c, the former figure showing the 
posterior, and the latter the anterior ends of the 
folds; of the two bottom folds only one is visible 
in either figure). 

Plectopylis shivoiensis (figs. 20a-d) is allied to the 


b 


Fig. 20.—Plectopylis shiroiensts. 


preceding species, and is likewise sinistral, but the 
shell is smaller, measuring 75 millimetres in 


156 


diameter, it is more raised in the spire and the last 
whorl is less deflected in front: there are also diffe- 
rences in the armature as indicated below. The 
species was described and figured by Lieut.- 
Colonel Godwin-Austen in the “‘ Proceedings of 
the Zoological Society” for 1874, p- 609, i. 
73, i. 3, where he states that it occurred in 
great abundance on the slopes of the peak of 
Shiroifurar, north-east of Munipur, ait an altitude 
of 8,000 t0 9,000 feet, and only in ihe short 
grass skirting the edge of theforest. Thespecimen 
figured is from the Daffia Hills, and is in the 


collection of Mr. Ponsonby. The parietal armature 


is similar in character to that of P. perarcia, but 
the principal horizonial plate is more fiexuous, being 
somewhat raised towards the vertical plateand again 
towards the aperiure before its final deflection at 
its junction with the parietal callus; it is also much 
broader. The second horizonial plate is also 
broader and flexuous, while both are a little more 
distant from the vertical plate (see fig. 202). The 
vertical plate is smaller than in the species just 
mentioned, and rounded at the top, while it is not 
defiected posteriorly below as in that species. 
There are, besides, two small very short ridges 
given of from the extremities of the vertical plate 
on its posterior side; the third horizontal fold is 
also a little longer as well as more flexuous than 
in P. perarcia. The chief difference, however, is in 
the palatal plates, as may be seen on reference ito 
figs. 20b-d. The first is horizontal, small and 
bilobed, close to the sutwre, then come two hori- 
zontal plates, small but comparatively broad, next 
a broad and strong vertical bilobed lamella, giving 
off on the posterior side two short ridges from the 


base of the lobes (see fig. 20d), and below thisa 
small but broad horizontal plate with a small 
tooth a little above and posterior io it. Fig. 20% 
shows the barriers from the side of the aperture, 
and fig. 20¢ irom behind. 

Plectopylis dextrorsa (figs. 2t4a-c) was originally 
described by Mr. Benson in “ Annals and Maga- 
zine of Natural History "’ (3), v- (1860), p. 246, asa 
dextral form of P. leiophis, from Tenasserim, and it 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


was figured in Hanley and Theobald’s “‘ Concho- 
logia Indica,” t. 13, f. 9, and in Tryon’s “* Manual 
of Conchology ” (2), iii., t. 35, £. 2, as P. refuga, var. 
dexivorsa. Lieut.-Colonel Godwin-Ausien was the 
first to point ont its specific distinctness from 
P_igiophis (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1875. p. 44), and he 
taised it to specific rank under the name of 
Plectopylis dexivorsa. We further stated that it is 
very close io P. pseudophis, but his figure of that 
species (loc. cit., 1874, t. 74, £. 3) does not bear out 
this view, and, after a careful comparison, lam 
inclined io consider iis nearest ally to be 
P_ brachydiscus. The shell, however, is smaller 
than that of the lasinmamed species, measuring 
16 millimetres in diameter, and there are 
differences of imporiance in ihe armature. The 
parietal veriical plate is rounded at ihe top, 
and forms a short ridge posieriorly, while 
another but much smaller ridge is formed at 
the base, first proceeding a little horizontally and 
then deflecting a little towards the suture (see 
fig. 21a); the principal horizontal plate begins at 
a little distance irom ihe veriical plate as in 
P. brachydiscus, but it is placed above the middle 
and therefore nearer the suture than in that species, 
and instead of revolving parallel with the suture it 
bends upwards a little and proceeds without 
interruption as far as its junction with the raised 
ridge of the parietal callus (see fig. 21a) at the 
aperture, while in P. brachydiscus it is inter- 
rupted. Other differences in the palatal armature 
will be observed on reference to fig. 216, where the 
inner side of the shell wall bearing the folds and 
teeth is shown. The first plate is long and hori- 
zontal; thesecond isalso horizontal, and bifurcates 
as in the other species; next come two series of 
three folds each, the anterior ones horizonial, the 
posterior ones smaller and obliquely descending ; 
and lastly we have a strong broad tooth parallel | 
with and near to the suture, with a smaller one 
posteriorly in a line withit. Fig. 21c shows the 
barriers of this species—parieial and palatal—from 
the posterior side. 

P.S.—With the Editor’s permission I take this 
opportunity of mentioning that as yet I have been 
unable to obtain specimens of the following species 
of the genus under consideration: Plectopylis 
dipiychia, P. muraia, P. ogiet, P. munipurensis, P. 
jeddexi, P. biforis, P. jugaioria, P. revoluta, P. 
phiyaria, P. vallaia, P. eugeni, P. lambacensis; and 
that I should much like to be favoured with them, 
either on loan or otherwise. In the case of mala- 
cologists having duplicate specimens, I should 
hope to be able to makea suitable exchange, as 
for instance, Cortila fryaz, the new species described 
in the September number of this magazine.— 
Address: 5, Giesbach Road, Upper Holloway, 
London, N. 


(To be conzinued.) 


SCIENGE-GOSSIP. 


Ty, 


THE CLIMACTERIC IN EVOLUTION. 
Isy% 18, AP, IMM@arap, Jaalee(GyS) 


fe the September number of SciENCE-GossIP, 

the Rev. Hilderic Friend, in his ‘‘ Botanical 
Jottings,” starts a question regarding the flowers 
of the guelder-rose, which leads direct to one of 
the most fundamental controversies of modern 
science: Do individual organisms exist for the sake 
of continuing the species ? 

Is reproduction the aim and end of individual 
life? Is it true that Nature is careless of the 
individual, and careful only of the species? Or, 
is the individual the real and important unit, and 
the species a mere group of units? The indi- 
vidual the thing which develops and evolves, 
while the species is no more than the aspect of the 
changing group at a given moment? Or, is there 
not a theory more probable than either of these— 
viz., that the individual, the species, the genus, the 
order, etc., are all phenomena of similar and equal 
value; all waves of cosmic activity of which the 
smaller are constituents of the larger, while the 
larger are constituents of the still larger, and so on 
ad infinitum; the species being an evolving wave of 
which the constituent elements are the evolving 
individuals, while the genus is also an evolving 
wave of still greater complexity, made up of the 
evolving species ? . 

If we conceive of these waves of cosmic activity 
not as simple oscillations or undulations, but in the 
more complex form of concentrating waves, that is, 
as exhibiting in their first phase a concentration of 
energy towards a central climacteric, and in their 
second phase a dispersion of energy towards the 
circumference, we shall recognize that every such 
wave has a definite limit and must finally become 
extinct. In this necessity the theory corresponds 
with and explains the primary condition of all 
organic life. It explains much more than this. It 
makes the wonders of evolution comprehensible, 
and throws much light both upon the past and the 
future; upon the geological record, and the in- 
evitable development of beauty. Evolution is the 
progress of a wave towards its climacteric; when 
this is reached there comes retrogression and 
extinction. If we find ourselves in an evolving 
universe, it means that the end is not yet; that the 
great inclusive infinitely complex wave, of whose 
limits we can know nothing, is still rolling upwards 
towards a climacteric of inconceivable beauty. 
Many of its constituent waves reach theiy climac- 
terics and are dispersed ; but their places are filled 
by other concentrations of still higher possibilities, 
and always it can be shown that visible beauty is 
the sure signature of an approaching climacteric. 
What is beauty? It is primarily a mental idea 


due to the perception of relationship among a group 
of sensations. For the perception of such relation- 
ship by human minds, it is necessary that the 
group of sensations should be actually related in 
close and simple proportions, and it is one of the 
necessary results of the concentrating wave that 
its constituents should be brought into closer 
relations to each other as the climacteric is 
approached. Thus the human mind recognizes 
that relationship only when the wave is near 
maturity, and beauty becomes the mark of such 
maturity. 

Let us return to our guelder-rose. In the highest 
vegetable structure there are four distinct systems 
of tissue, viz., the fundamental cellular tissue, the 
woody stem and branch system, the fibrous leaf 
system and the sensitive blossom. These are 
consecutively developed in this order. The blossom 
is the final climacteric of the individual. In most 
perennial plants there are subordinate annual 
climactericsof blossom, but in each individual there 
comes some one year when its blooming-power 
is at its maximum. Sexual reproduction is asso- 
ciated in plants with this latest phenomenon of 
their development, the blossom ; but other methods 
of reproduction, by buds, by gemmez, by stolons, 
etc., have no connection with the blossom. The 
progressive development of blossom, from the 
ferns, through the cycads and palms, to the 
present lilies and orchids, and from the lycopods, 
through thec oniferze and the amentiferz, to the 
roses, the leguminosz and the labiates, is very 
striking. The progress is in size, in form and 
in colour, and always in the direction of greater 
beauty. 

In the light of this reasoning I should reply to 
Mr. Friend’s question, ‘‘ Which is the typical form 
of the guelder-rose ?”’ that the only one which can 
be properly called typical is the gardenform. The 
others are successive steps towards the attainment 
of that climacteric in which the corolla, which is 
the essential part of the flower, is developed in its 
utmost beauty. 

I am quite aware that all this is botanical heresy. 
Every useful thought has been heresy in its day. 
Fifty years hence it may be sound orthodoxy. Any 
way, this is one possible view of the system of 
nature, and it seems to me a much more satis- 
factory theory than what is held to be orthodox at 
the close of this nineteenth century. I have only 
sketched it in the barest outline to indicate my 
ground for calling the beautiful “ snowball-tree” 
the most typical form of the guelder-rose. 


Crescent House, Leicester ; September, 1896. 


GREEN 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


SCUM ON WATER. 


By JAMES Burton. 


ies July, the surface of the water of the 
Military Canal at Hythe, was covered with 
numerous patches, of varying size, of a pale 
yellowish green slime. I expected they would 
prove to be composed of one of the many different 
forms of Euglena which are so common, often 


giving a green colour to water and collecting on © 


the surface. On bringing some home for examina- 
tion, the patches were found to consist almost 
entirely of one of the Nostochacee. The nomen- 
clature of this order is uncertain, and the 
determination of the genera by no means easy, 
partly owing to the number of naturalists who 
have attempted its arrangement. My specimens 
consisted of short, nearly straight filaments of 
minute globular cells, somewhat flattened where 
joined to their neighbours, of a pale yellowish 
green, filled with granular protoplasm, many of 
them more or less constricted in the middle, 
showing they were undergoing division. At 
intervals, a cell with clear contents and decided 
spherical form occurs, these are called heterocysts, 
but their function does not appear to be known. 
Occasionally also a much larger cell is found, 
ovate in shape, and filled with densely granular 
protoplasm, these are sporangia and contain each 
one spore at maturity, enclosed in a second wall. 
The whole resembled very closely the common 
mostoc, the chief differences being that in nostoc 
the sporangia, so far as I am aware, are absent, and 
the filaments are enclosed in a mass of jelly-like 
substance, which here was almost if not entirely 
wanting. The fact that the heterocysts and 
sporangia occurred at intervals, separated by 
ordinary cells, while the sporangia were not greatly 
elongated, would indicate that the specimens 
belonged to the genus Anabena (see under heading 
“‘ Trichormus ” in third edition ‘‘ Micrographic 
Dictionary”). The plants lived very well for 
several days in a collecting-bottle, apparently with- 
out any change taking place, but when transferred 
to a small aquarium, in which it was hoped they 
would flourish, the mass at once broke up and the 
organisms were diffused through the water and 
perished. This was the more regrettable as a 
careful examination had not been made, and it was 
necessary to fall back on a mounted specimen for 
identification and description. This has conse- 
quently been rather doubtful, as a certain amount 
of alteration may have taken place in the process. 
Very likely the water of the canal is brackish or 
even salt, and the fresh water proved fatal to the 
plants. Among the Amnabena there were also 
numbers of small-lobed masses of jelly with minute 


green sepavate cells embedded in them, closely 
resembling the figure of Chloroccum frustulosum in 
Dr. Cook’s ‘‘ British Freshwater Algz,’’ but I 
have not the text of the book at hand for reference 
as to habitat, etc. There were present a few of the 
ubiquitous spindle-shaped Euglena with red ‘‘ eye- 
spot” at one end and clear pointed tail at the 
other. 

Since writing the above I have come across 
another example of the order. This was on the 
surface of the earth, in a large flower-pot under 
a bell-glass, and the characters being more 
definite than in the other case, identification 
as Cylindvospermum was easy and certain. The 
gelatinous matrix, instead of being in lumps, 
or more or less globular masses, as is the case 
with Nostoc commune, is spread in a thickish layer 
on the substratum, so that the whole is much less 
noticeable. The general colour is dark green, but 
brighter than in N. commune. The plant consists 
of somewhat short beaded strings. The ordinary 
cells are globular, slightly flattened where joined 
to their neighbours, and filled with granular 
protoplasm. The heterocysts and sporangia are 
very characteristic; the former are terminal, 
globular, protoplasm clear pale green and fringed 
with hairs, sometimes longer than the breadth of 
the cell; the sporangia are cylindrical with 
rounded ends and densely granular contents, 
and occur next the heterocysts, 7.e. they are 
penultimate. The position and form of these 
cells indicate Cylindvospermum. According to 
the ‘‘Micrographic Dictionary,” the plant is 
‘distinguished under the microscope by the resem- 
blance of the filaments to an annulose animal, the 
ordinary cells looking like a jointed body, the 
large elliptic sporangial cell like a thorax, and the 
terminal vesicular cell often bearing fine hairs, like 
a head.” At any rate it is an interesting and 
distinct form. 8 

Owing to the wet autumn, lower algz of many 
species are extremely common now, every footpath, 
the bases of walls and trees swarm with them; 
all are well worth and easy of examination, but 
identification is often difficult. Dark blue-green 
Oscillatoriee show like a black stain, and various 
Palmellacee almost like a patch of blood. A 
common form is very similar to, if not identical 
with, that causing ‘‘red snow”’ so often invested 
with a gleam of sentiment in accounts of Alpine 
travel. I shall be pleased to forward a small 
specimen of Cylindvospermum to anyone caring to 
enclose address and stamp for postage. 

9, Agamemnon Road, West Hampstead, London. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


159 


NOTES OF A HOME NATURALIST 


By Mrs. EmiLy J. CLIMENSON. 


HE writer of ‘‘ Notes of a Home Naturalist ”’ 
took her summer flight to Bournemouth on 
July 23rd. Two precious water-beetles were en- 
trusted to a kind friend, the best fish pensioned 
out, and all the rest of the contents of the aquaria, 
great and small, consigned to their native habitats. 
The weather was so hot that for weeks the 
slightest exertion was terrible, hence an enforced 
absence of much energy in natural history pursuits. 
Since the break up of the extreme heat, the 
constant rain, alternating with high wind, has 
made rock-searching (for which one has to go to 
Swanage) and butterfly catching almost impossible. 
In a little pond on the West Common here, the 
product of heath drainage, are an enormous 
amount of Dytiscus and Acilius sulcatus beetles, some 
large and savage ‘‘boatmen’”’ or Notonecta glauca, 
and some of the largest Corviva I have ever seen, 
as big as an ordinary Thames Notonecta, the 
scutelum marked with a strongly-defined diagonal 
cross. Being tired of keeping Dytiscus beetles, I 
have devoted myself to the Acilius sulcatus, and 
have four alive and merry, living in a glass jam- 
jar, fed upon little pieces of raw meat. 

At Swanage, on August 15th, I found some nice 
specimens of anemones, viz., brown, red and 
spotted Actinia mesambryanthemum or “‘ beadlets,” 
and Anthea cereus or ‘‘opelet,”” also one <bright 
green anemone with an exquisite blue rim at the 
base. On August 19th, when brushing off the 
skin-like exudation that anemones exude, with a 
camel’s-hair brush (which they like as any fine 
lady may the manipulation of her abigail), I found 
four baby anemones, each the size of a pin’s head, 
who had taken to an empty limpet shell as a 
cradle. A few days after, in changing the water 
in another finger-glass with anemones therein con- 
tained, one of them emitted three baby anemones. 
The shore being some little way off, I fetched the 
sea-water in a tin narrow-mouthed jug, which 
does not slop asa can would. The stored water 
turned very rusty, and on pouring the water 
incautiously into the glasses, a quantity of rust fell 
in. The anemones have lived through it, but 
diminished to a quarter their size, I suppose in 
consequence of the rust. The water being re- 
newed after a few days, they are now rapidly 
recovering size and beauty. 

On August 24th, in Little Durley Chine, I 
found some magnificent specimens of Carduus 
marianus, their lovely glaucous leaves, some over a 
foot long, veined and splotched with white. This 
thistle is a rare one, and the legend runs that the 
Virgin Mary, in nursing the infant Saviour, dropped 


some of her milk on this plant, which has for ever 
retained the mark. Even when dried and pressed, 
though turned brown, the leaf has the white 
splotches and veins distinctly showing. 

The same day some blue gentians were found 
near the same place. They used to be fairly 
common here, but like their neighbours, the 
‘‘cotton grass’ (Eviophorum) and ‘‘ bog asphodel ”’ 
(Narthecium ossifragum), they seem to perish as 
the breath of mankind increases in their native 
habitat. Advanced population is synonymous with 
depreciation of flora, alas, when it approaches the 
haunts of what may be termed Flora’s timid 
votaries. Never have berries been more abundant 
in this neighbourhood than this year, or earlier, 
blackberries being ripe and exposed for sale quite 
a month ago. In paying a visit to General Pitt 
River’s most interesting place, Rushmore, the 
other day, we found plants of hoary mullein 
(Verbascum pulverulentum). This was in Wiltshire. 
I see in Bentham’s ‘‘ British Flora” it is only con- 
sidered to grow in Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey and 
Hants, though certainly Rushmore is not far from 
the Hants border. To all who love the acclimitiza- 
tion of beasts and birds in this country, a visit 
should be madeto Rushmore. The list of animals 
and birds there to be seen would take too much 
room here. On the other hand, those who love 
studying birds should on no account be near 
Christchurch, Hants, without visiting Mr. Hart’s 
museum of stuffed birds. Not only is he an 
enthusiastic naturalist, but he is a perfect artist in 
setting up those birds he obtains, generally in the 
most natural postures, and he groups them and 
surrounds them with the objects or plants they 
affect in a way that is most remarkable. With each 
bird (and many rare examples are to be seen 
there) is a little life-history he can tell that en- 
Having known his collec- 
for them, some 


trances any bird lover. 
tion before he made a museum 
twenty years or more, I can well vouch for its 
interest and its increasing development. 

In the latter part of August, several men and 
Bournemouth with trollies 
covered with land tortoises. One man, who | 
remembered some years ago at Bournemouth, 
showed me an egg of the size of a blackbird's, very 
round, covered with white skin, which he affirmed 
to have been laid by a tortoise fished by him out of 
a pond which I remembered, now filled in, and 


declared it had been laid by the tortoise a few days 
Is there any truth in the notion 


boys appeared in 


after catching it. | 
that these reptiles destroy black-beetles ° 


“ Glengoil,” Bournemouth, September 17th, 1896. 


160 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


BIRD LIFE ON A LOWLAND’ -LOCH. 


By RoBERT GODFREY. 


N May 8th last, I set out to examine a few 
lochs in the Forth area, with a view to taking 
a census of the wildfowl at that date upon them, 
and thus gaining a clue to the number of birds 
about to nest or already nesting on each for the 
season. The first loch visited proved to be but 
meagrely tenanted, containing only two pairs and 
an odd female of the tufted duck, with the less 
significant waterhens, little grebes and coots; but 
the second was tenanted by some species of interest, 
and consequently detained me by its side during 
the remainder of my available time. The object 
of this paper is to describe briefly the life on this 
latter loch. 

Crossing a ploughed field and passing through 
the low thick fox cover that borders the loch, I 
emerged on one of these spots, where, could 
the fear of intrusion be wholly dispelled, I could 
linger as part of the scene for many hours. A 
mist was rising from the water, but the sun was 
coming out behind me in his mid-day strength, and 
a strange peaceful silence brooded over the loch 
surface. A finely-varied herbage covered the area 
between the plantation and the waiter, and a line 
of iris flags grew on the verge. The willow-wren, 
the lark, and the reed-bunting were all in song 
beside me, each strain forgotten in the whole; the 
coots, disturbed by the unwonted appearance of an 
intruder, swam from the edge, and a pair of tufted 
ducks, so tame normally, rose and flew to another 
point, whilst a shoveller-drake crossed overhead 
to a patch of sheltering waterplants nearer the 
road, and, alighting there beyond my range, 
remained undiscovered when I went in pursuit. 
Coots were abundant, and a single waterhen rose, 
and peeweeps, redshanks and curlew were oc- 
casionally heard. I zigzaged across the damp long 
herbage that forms a splendid foreshore, in hope 
of rousing some sitting duck, but I found nothing 
save sucked eggs of coot and waterhen. Towards 
the middle and upper end of the loch numbers 
of ducks thickly dotted the surface, and a motley 
crew were forming a line upon the water when 
they were disturbed by the sudden report of a 
gun, and meanwhile dispersed. I walked slowly 
along the sheltered bank between the plantation 
and the loch, and, in my want of success at finding 
nests, I looked for a suitable resting-place from 
which to note the loch’s inhabitants. The mist 
had meanwhile been dispelled by the strong sun, 
and the loch and its surroundings afforded a fine 
display beneath his genial rays. Far along the 
loch-side a second fir plantation grew nearer the 


water, and afforded, in the thickness of its growth, 
a temporary ambush, from which I might de- 
termine the number of birds present. Thither I 
accordingly repaired, and creeping under the dense 
firs till near the outlook on the loch, I settled in 
concealment amongst them. Opposite me, at a 
short distance from shore, was a small island 
covered with grass and shrubs, and proving a very 
attractive haunt for the birds of the loch, from the 
swan downwards ; whilst just beyond me a small 
bay, lying in the lee of the island, acted as a 
further inducement tothe ducks. Here the mallards 
were resting in the shallows, and by their fearless- 
mess encouraging other birds to approach. I 
carefully surveyed the loch, and counted twenty- 
four pairs of tufted ducks on the surface, but failing 
to discern any shovellers, I saw the necessity of 
moving nearer the loch-head, and examining more 
Critically the species on the edge of the enormous 
reed bed there. 

My appearance was the signal for the swans 
showing their resentment by coming forward to 
drive me from their quarters. I considered myself 
safe from their molestation after I had passed round 
the bay, but before long, whilst paying heed toa 
robin near my side, I was startled by the swishing 
of the male swan as he flew along the surface in 
my direction. I was ready to slip into the wood 
if he approached too closely, but I did not require 
to yield to such an unceremonious retreat, and, 
moving on a little further, I sat down on a tree 
stump and rested quietly to allow of the loch’s 
inhabitants assuming their normal conditions, and 
acting without fear before me. I intermittently 
scoured the surface with my glass, and succeeded 
in picking up another shoveller, at a great distance, 
however, from me. After a lengthened wait, I was 
at length gratified by seeing a shoveller-drake close 
to the island, swimming at hisrease, and groping 
in the water for food, and finally resting on the 
verge of the isle. His fine display of colour, 
dark-blue head, white breast, and chestnut belly, 
all shown off to their fullest advantage by the mid- 
day sun, rendered him a match for the shell-duck 
in beauty. 

Often in the fields it happens that when one’s 
whole attention is required on an object, other 
objects seem just then to come before him and 
urge their own claims; and so it happened here. 
A carrion-crow had driven ancther bird to shelter 
in the wood behind me, and was now wildly 
clamouring to and fro above the plantation, making 
me anxious to know the object of his concern, but 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 161 


he did not succeed in withdrawing my attention 
from the loch. There, however, my glass rested 
on the white neck of a large bird, and, as I still 
gazed upon it, the gorgeous red head flared out full 
in the sunshine and revealed a bird of equal import- 
ance with the shoveller, the great crested grebe. 
Beside it swam its mate, but both birds were still 
far out in the middle of the loch. A second 
shoveller-drake settled on another part of the same 
island, and a long period of inactivity amongst the 
wildfowl followed. The picture of peace thereafter 
displayed implied seldom disturbance of the area 
more immediately under my gaze, and the import- 
ance of the island to the birds was more and more 
impressed upon me during my stay. The suspicious 
mallards had forgotten their wildness in their 
supposed privacy, and were resting on the land ; 
beside them reclined the tufted duck, a far less 
wary species, and the ever-watchful peeweep bathed 
and cleaned himself in silence, giving only a slight 
cry when he rose from the completion of his toilet. 
The skulking water-hen would call, but did not 
come forth to view, and the curlew would warn me 
as he passed by. On the island edge were the 
dainty teal, and in the shallows rested the shoveller, 
whilst coots in numbers swam idly by the shore. 
As king and queen over the diverse flock the pair 
of great crested grebes were now swimming fear- 
lessly before me. 

From its elongated body the great crested grebe 
resembles a diver on the water, the long, narrow 
bill and pure white neck are conspicuous, and the 
occipital tufts give the appearance of ears ; occasion- 
ally the white secondaries would be revealed when 
one of the birds beat its wings. The bird carries 
its neck erect and bill horizontal; when swimming 
quickly it keeps its neck inclined forward, but when 
proceeding slowly it maintains a slight back and 
forward movement. The bird seems to have the 
power of altering its depth in the water, and, when 
diving, merely inserts its head and disappears, with 
hardly a motion on the surface. Both birds swam 
off again towards the middle of the loch and 
settled there, whilst the shovellers, with rapid 
sustained flight, made for another part of the 
loch. 

My uprising did not create such a commotion as 
I had feared ; the tufted ducks called as they swam 
off from land, and the main body of birds departed 
for awhile. The upper sources of the loch enclose 
a large extent of land within their bounds and are 
highly attractive for water-birds, whilst the enor- 
mous reed-beds afford secure nesting-grounds. I 
renewed my search for a shoveller’s nest, which 
proved unavailing, and after a further rest in the 
meadows adjoining the loch, I left the companions 
of my ramble to settle again in their normal condi- 
tions of peace and solitude. 


46, Cumberland Street, Edinburgh ; October, 1896. 


ROEM PENS 


NOTICES BY =e T. CARRINGTON. 


Handbook of Physiology. By W.D. Ha risurton, 
M.D., F.R.S. 866 pp. 8vo, illustrated by 661 
figures and coloured plate. (London: John Murray, 
1896.) Price 14s. 

This carefully-produced work is the fourteenth 
edition of Kirke’s ‘‘ Handbook of Physiology,” 
which has been rearranged and to a great extent 
re-written, so much so that the book is practically 
a new one. There are also numerous additional 
illustrations which, with the letterpress, will be 
found to bring up the subjects treated to the most 
modern state of knowledge. A feature of these 
illustrations is the insertion of coloured figures 
on the pages among the letterpress. These 
are in most instances beautifully executed and 
add greatly to the interest of the book. The 
chapter on ‘‘ Development,” from an embryological 
point of view, contains the most recent results 
of investigation. We can highly recommend this 
work, not only to medical students, but also to 
many of our more thoughtful readers who will 
learn much from the lucid explanations which 
are so plainly set forth in its pages. 

Stenopaic, oy Pin-Hole Photography. By FReEpD- 
ERICK WILLIAM MILts, F.R.M.S., and ARCHIBALD 
C. Ponton. Second and revised edition. 28 pp. 
royal 8vo, illustrated by a frontispiece and dia- 
grams in text. (London, Dawbarn and Ward, 
Limited.) Price ts. 6d. 

We have already noticed the first edition of this 
work, which has evidently interested the public, 
as within four months there have been issued the 
first edition and a reprint thereof, also this second 
edition. The subject of pin-hole photography is 
within .the reach of most amateurs, and this 
little work will give them sufficient instruction to 
proceed with ease. It can hardly be said to be 
new, as the pin-hole camera was designed about the 
year 1500, the idea being obtained through the 
camera-obscura, which was invented by Roger 
Bacon as far back as1297. The frontispiece shows 
an excellent piece of photography taken by this 
type of camera. 

The Bichromate Salts in Photography, by various 
authors. 28 pp. large 8vo. (London: Dawbarn 
and Ward, Limited, 1896.) Price Is. net. 

This pamphlet consists of six lectures delivered 
before the Affiliation of Photographic Societies, and 
are reprinted from The Photographic Journal, They 
are—(r) ‘‘ Scientific and Historical Preliminary,” by 
Captain W. de W. Abney, C.B., R.E., D.C.L.; 
(2) ‘‘Carbon Printing,” by Mr. J. A. Sinclair, 
F.R.P.S.; (3) ‘‘Collotype,” by Mr. W. E. Deben- 
ham; (4) ‘‘ Woodbury Printing,” by Mr. J. D. 
Geddes; (5) ‘‘ Photo-Lithography and Photo- 
Zincography,” by Mr. W. T. Wilkinson ; (6) ‘‘ Pro- 
cess Applications of the Bichromate Salts,” by 
Mr. W. T. Wilkinson. Some of our readers may 
already have heard these lectures, but others who 
have not, will find them very useful, for no matter 
how practical may be their work, a little know- 
ledge of theory, with familiarity with the work 
already done, will greatly help them. 


162 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


(SCIENCE ABROAD» 
ee [<i 
WA CAMS 


CONTRIBUTED BY G. K. GUDE, F.Z.S. 


BULLETIN DE LA SOCIETE ZOOLOGIQUE DE 
FRANCE (Paris: July, 1896). The question of the 
domestication of the African Elephant is considered 
by M. Edouard Blanc. In view of the probable 
extinction, in the near future, of this much-perse- 
cuted animal, this subject has come prominently 
before the public, since the European nations have 
divided the tropical zone of the Black Continent. 
In Germany the subject appears to have taken a 
practical turn, inasmuch that a committee for the 
domestication of the African Elephant has been 
formed in Berlin. The Government of the Belgian 
Congo has likewise made some efforts in the same 
direction. In France, M. Bourdarie has taken up 
the question, particularly with regard to the French 
Congo, and he has madesome important communi- 
cations on the subject to several learned societies, 
before leaving for West Africa, where he proposes 
to make direct attempts in this direction. That the 
African elephant has been domesticated in the past 
is afirmed by some, but denied by others. The 
undisputed fact of the use made by the Cartha- 
ginians, in their wars, of elephants, is, however, 
no proof in support of the theory, as these animals 
were, in all probability, obtained from Syria, where, 
at that period, they were used in combat. To attri- 
bute an African origin to the elephants of Carthage, 
it becomes necessary to suppose that a now extinct 
species existed at that time. In support of this 
view, the famous inscription of Adulis, now de- 
stroyed, but the text of which has been preserved, 
is cited. In it Ptolemy Evergetus relates the 
capture in this region of Ethiopian elephants to be 
drilled for war, and that with their aid he has 
overcome the Indian elephants sent against him in 
Syria and Asia Minor. In thisinscription mention 
is also made of Troglodyte elephants, and it is 
supposed that this represents the native animal, 
which must have differed in its habits from its 
surviving relatives, as the dry, rocky, mountainous 
region of the Atlas and Abyssinia could never have 
presented the same physical conditions of the 
fertile and humid plains in which the two now- 
living species exist. It has, therefore, been sup- 
posed that Elephas troglodytes must have approxi- 
mated in habit to the other extinct species, such as 
E. priscus, E. antiguus, and E. melitensis, and that 
it lived, if not actually in caves, at least in rocky, 
mountainous and comparatively dry regions. The 
specific character of this hypothetic species can 
only be guessed at, as hitherto not a vestige of 
bones has been found in Algeria. The author, 
however, thinks that the inscription of Adulis 
authorizes the assumption that the animal ex- 
tended to Abyssinia, and he hopes that researches 
in that region will lead to better results in the 
future. 


PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL 
SCIENCES (Philadelphia, 1896)._Mr. H. A. Pilsbry, 
in conjunction with Mr. E. G. Vanatta, contributes 
a catalogue of the species of Cevion, with descrip- 
tion of new forms. The genus Cerion, or, as it is 


commonly known, Strophia, as the authors inform 
us, is one of the most characteristic forms of West 
Indian molluscan life. With two exceptions the 
species are all insular; the two exceptions referred 
to are C. incanum, from South Florida Keys, and C. 
antonii, from Guiana. The Greater Antilles, Cuba, 
Hayti and Porto Rico, with the Virgin Islands and 
the entire group of the Bahamas, are inhabited by 
numerous species, with a multitude of local races. 
South of the larger islands named, if the faunally 
dependent Cayman Group and the Isle of Pines are 
included with Cuba, but one single species is found, 
C. uva of Curacoa, singularly isolated in charac- 
ters as well as geographically. Jamaica is without 
a species, and the genus fails also in the Caribbean 
chain. Generally speaking, each species is confined 
to some single island, or to a series of adjacent 
keys or islets; there are, however, numerous ex- 
ceptions, and some forms, undoubtedly conspecific, 
are found on several islands separated by con- 
siderable distances. The species are stated to be 
subject to a remarkable range of individual and 
local variation, many varying from strongly and 
conspicuously ribbed to entirely ribless and smooth, 
while colour is equally variable, pure white forms 
varying to heavily brown-mottled in many cases. 
Absolute size of adults is stated to be almost as 
mutable as in Cypraea, and occasionally individuals 
are abnormally shortened by the premature 
assumption of the features of maturity, giving them 
a stunted appearance. All these considerations 
render the study of the species one of urusual 
difficulty, especially as the older authors, being 
unacquainted with the protean nature of the 
species, as well as with the usually restricted range 
of each, often failed to properly discriminate them. 
Mr. C. J. Maynard, an American writer on natural 
history, was the first to draw attention to these 
facts, and he found that the aperture-armature or 
teeth of the Cerions are variously arranged, and 
furnished a basis for dividing the genus into sub- 
genera. He further discovered and described a 
large number of most interesting species and 
varieties, especially in the Cayman Island group. 
The present authors, however, consider that he 
has unduly multiplied species and sub-species, 
basing them on characters which they hold to be 
slight and inconstant. The catalogue presented 
by the authors is the result of the careful examina- 
tion and study of a very large collection of shells, 
and their object has been primarily to place before 
students a moderate estimate of the species of 
the group, specific values being held neither in 
extremely narrow nor very wide limits, but practi- 
cally in conformity with the views represented by 
the leading English and American conchological 
authors of to-day. Of the anatamy of the soft parts 
little is known as yet; our authorsadd, however, to 
this subject by an illustration of the anatomy of 
a new species. They then divide the genus into 
four groups of sub-generic value, 7.e. Eostrophia, 
Cevion, s.s., Strophiops and Diacerton. After 
enumerating the known species with the synonymy 
and some references to bibliography, they describea 
number of new forms which are illustrated by a 
plate of thirty-one figures. The same authors 
also contribute a ‘‘ Revision of the North American 
Slugs, Aviolimax and Aphallarion.” The latter is 
anew genus proposed for a new-species, perhaps 
the largest American slug. The anatomy of these 
two genera is investigated and compared with that 
of Avion. A key is given to the species of 
Aviolimax, and all the species dealt with in the 
paper are illustrated by a plate of sixteen figures- 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


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18 2.10 6" 5 coo A tag BH? OY 
28)... 2.24 OWES - 18.56 ... 24° 48! 
MOTSE Wal) 240 am... Gs 5.56 ... 24° 32! N, 
18 1.59 8" o 5:49 w. 25° 1! 

; EAS) Gag ay Bits 10 SO te CEO GY 
Fuprtey ...18 ... 6.49 a.m. ...16" 6 ceo HOTT og GY BHIMINI 
Saturn ... 18 ... 11.30 a.m “Oo See 22ieLOn 270 Se 
Uranus ... 8 ... 0.15 p.m 1" 8 pels 20ne LO gol Se 
Neptune... 8... 2.4 a.m it 5.16 ... 21° 37/N. 


Moon’s PHASES. 


him. him. 
New ... Nov. 5... 7.27a.m. st Qy. ... Nov. 12... 5-41 a.m. 
MIL ee 20heee LOL25 Ny BOC oy AS eee 


Sun.—The spots may be expected to be few and 
small. During September there appeared a slight 
increase of activity, a group of small spots, having 
a length of about one-fifth of the sun’s diameter, 
followed by other spots, making the disc interest- 
ing. But for some two or three days early in 
October no spots were visible, and then only one 
small one. 


Mercury is not well placed for observation this 
month, being in superior conjunction with the sun 
on November 28th. 


VENUS is an evening star, somewhat poorly 
placed, but may be observed towards the end of 
the month, setting a little after six o’clock. 


Mars, notwithstanding its small angular diameter, 
may be well observed this month. The principal 
markings, on a favourable night, may be seen with 
any good telescope having an object-glass more 
than three inches in diameter, with powers from 
120 to 250. 


Jupiter rises about midnight during the month, 
and may be observed for some hours before 
sunrise. 


SATURN and Uranus are in conjunction with the 
sun on November 13th and 16th respectively, and 
so cannot be observed. 


NEPTUNE is in good position for observation, 
about 5° /., or westward, of ¢ Tauri. 


Meteors should be carefully watched for in 
November, especially about 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th- 
gth, 11th-15th, 19th and 27th, notably on 13th 
and r4th. 


163 


VARIABLE STARS.—The following are in good 
position during November : 


R.A. Magnitude, 


hm, N.Dec. Max. Mun. Period, 


Piberselins Cs) os 2.508 30 206) 3:Ak A 
B Persei (Algol) ... 2.57 40°27’ 2°3 4 2d.2oh.48m.<os.* 
A Tauri... ... ... 3.53 12° 7! 3°4 4°3 3d. 22h. 52m. 


® Tauri(Aldebaran) 4.29 16° 16/ + 

The 3°5 magnitude quadruple star Persei, R.A. 
3h. 46m., N. Dec. 31° 30’, is also marked as a 
variable by the late Richd. A. Proctor. 


New Comets.—On August 31st, at Randolph, 
Ohio, Mr. Sperra discovered Comet IV., 1896, 
which was on later dates observed by Prof. 
Brooks, of Geneva, New York, and also by the 
observers at the Lick Observatory. At its 
perihelion, on July 7th, its distance from the sun 
was 108,000,000 miles; when nearest the earth, on 
September 12th, its distance was no less than 
163,000,000 miles. It is slowly diminishing in 
brightness. It was situated near the so-called tail 
of the Great Bear, and its orbit was greatly 
inclined to the plane of ourown. On September 
4th, a very faint comet, V. 1896, was discovered by 
Signor Giacobini, of the Nice Observatory, in the 
constellation Ophiuchus. It was calculated to pass 
its perihelion on October 8°003d, Berlin mean time. 
It appears to be travelling in an elliptical orbit, 
whose plane is but little inclined to that of the 
earth. On September 2oth, it is announced that 
Professor Lewis Swift, of the Lowe Observatory, 
California, discovered a bright comet not moie 
than 1° to the east of the sun, and on the following 
evening found it somewhat fainter at a greater 
distance from the sun, and having a motion north- 
wards. The observations, however, appear to 
have met with no confirmation. 


Saturn’s Ring SystemM.—M. E. Antoniaci 
writes: ‘‘ With reference to the new ‘divisions,’ 
I must state that I do not consider them as being 
real separations, but rather rarefaction zones, more 
distinct at times than at others. The motion of 
the lines of absides of the orbits of the corpuscles 
composing the ring system and the variations of 
the major axes, both due to the influence of the 
satellites, must render the appearance of these 
lines variable. I do not think that these zones are 
quite free of matter.” 


A NEw DovusLe SrTAr.—In the constellation 
Scorpio, about R.A. 16h. 41m., S. Dec., 38°, there 
are two stars of 3rd and 4th magnitudes marked 
respectively uw! and w2. The former has just been 
discovered to be aclose binary by Mr. Bailey at the 
Observatory of Arequipa, Peru, a branch of the 
well-known Harvard College Observatory. The 
components are so close that it can never be hoped 
that optical means will be constructed to show 
them. This notwithstanding, the spectroscope 
reveals an alternate shifting of the dark lines in its 
spectrum, showing that it is sometimes advancing 
towards us, sometimes receding from us, thus 
indicating orbitual motion, whilst its period is 
completed in thirty-five hours. 

* Algol, being of considerable northern declination, may 
be observed during a great part of the year. It remains at 
its maximum for 2d. 13'5h., then for 35h. grows fainter, 
remains at its minimum r15m., and then during the next 3°sh. 
brightens to its maximum. Its period since 1782 is said to 
have decreased‘ by 9s. The apparent explanation of the 
phenomenon is the revolution of a large dark planet round 
the bright star. The star will be at its minimum on the 
night of November roth, at thirty-four minutes after mid- 


night. 
{ The variation in this star is in colour from yellow-orange 


to yellow-red. 


164 


ease ; wp 


di Sit SE 


THE Toynbee Hall Educational Session was 
opened on October 4th, when a large proportion of 


the two thousand students attended the Annual. 


Conversazione. 


Mr. Joun E. Puirwirs, of Woolhampton, Berks, 
has forwarded to us a specimen of his patent slate- 
cleaner. It is a most useful and ingeniously con- 
structed article and we only wish they had been in 
existence in our own school days. 


Our correspondent, Mrs. Emily J. Climenson, 
the contributor of ‘‘ Notes of a Home Naturalist,” 
has lately issued an Illustrated Guide to Henley-on- 
Thames. Amongst much valuable information of 
a local character is a flora of the district, by Mr. 
G. Stanton, of Park Place Gardens, and notes on 
its geology. In the latter, the authoress has had 
the assistance of Mr. Llewellyn Treacher, of 
Twyford. 


THE annual meeting of the Conchological 
Society of Great Britain and Ireland was held at 
the Manchester Museum, Owens College, when 
Professor Sydney J. Hickson, D.Sc., F.R.S., was 
elected President for the ensuing year, in place of 
Mr. J. Cosmo Melvill, F.L.S. The report was of 
a satisfactory character, and the financial statement 
of the Society’s revenue and expenditure shows a 
substantial balance in hand. 


Now that the Conchological Society has quite 
settled in its new home in the Manchester Museum, 
we hear that its members show increased activity 
in assisting, either by reading papers and exhibits, 
or, equally useful, in a passive manner by regular 
attendance. We often think that if members of 
scientific societies would attend more frequently at 
the meetings, they would do more than many of 
them imagine towards obtaining good papers and 
exhibits, which thin meetings so successfully 
discourage. 


Tue ‘‘ Proceedings of the Bristol Naturalists 
Society ’’ for 1895-96 are to hand, in the modest form 
of a seventy-two page pamphlet, illustrated by a 
portrait of Professor William Ramsay, F.R.S., 
who was associated with University College, 
Bristol, from 1880 to 1887. 


WE fear that natural science does not offer 
many charms to the quarter-million inhabitants 
of the large city of Bristol, if judged by the report 
of the local Naturalists’ Society. There is a 
general tone of ‘‘ out-of-dateness’’ about it, which 
is lamentable. Even the presidency of the 
Biological Section is given as ‘‘vacant.”’ Our 
copy of the ‘‘ Proceedings’”’ was forwarded to an 
address which has not for years past been that 
of SciENCE-GossIP, nor is it even of the former 
publishers. That is only a small matter, for 
‘‘ London” is sufficient to reach us either editorially 
or to the publishers; but it shows, as the 
Americans would say, that Bristol biologists should 
‘‘buck-up,” or the loan of £28 11s. 84d. from 
capital account will have to be increased if the 
society is to be kept going. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Mr. Epwarp WItson, F.G.S., the Curator of 
the British Museum, hasissued the seventh edition, 
dated September last, of the official ‘‘ Guide to the 
Museum.”’ It contains several new features, and 
is sold for one penny. 


TuHosE of our readers who see the monthly 
journal, ‘‘The Ornithologist,’” may have noticed in 
last month’s issue an article on ‘‘ The Quest of the 
Erne,” which was taken from ScrlENCE-GOSSIP 
of the same month, without the permission of the 
Editor or knowledge of the author. 


Amonc the latest Government Scientific publica- 
tions of the United States of America is an 
important one on ‘‘Some Mexican and Japanese 
Injurious Insects, liable to be introduced into the 
United States.”” The work is issued by the Division 
of Entomology in the Department of Agriculture. 


On October 6th, about seventy courses of lectures 
and classes commenced at Toynbee Hall, in sub- 
jects varying from Cookery to the practice of 
Bach’s Concertos and the study of Kant’s Ethical 
Theory. Science includes ‘‘ Missing Links,” a 
course in Biology, by Mr. Chalmers Mitchell, and 
‘‘ Industrial Chemistry,” by Mr. John Wade. 


Amone Messrs. Chapman and Hall’s announce- 
ments of forthcoming works to be published by 
that firm is ‘‘ The Naturalist in Australia,” by Mr. 
W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S., which will contain seven 
coloured plates and many other illustrations. There 
is to be only a limited edition of five hundred copies, 
at three guineas each. 


A MOVEMENT is on foot for the protection of the 
African elephant, which in the face of the rapid 
development of civilization on that continent, 
seems likely to be exterminated. There ought not 
to be much difficulty at the present period for an 
international agreement to found some immense 
public reserves for the conservation of the 
elephants and other animals in a state of nature. 


THE first parts of a new work on “‘‘ British Birds 
with their Nests and Eggs”’ have been issued by 
Messrs. Horace Marshall and Son and Messrs. 
Brumby and Clarke, of London, in two-shilling 
monthly parts. The articles are by specialists in 
Ornithology, and the drawings are well executed 
by Mr. F. W. Frohawk. In size the plates and 
letterpress pages are 10 xX 124 inches, or royal 
quarto. 


THE South London Entomological and Na- 
tural History Society will not hold one of 
its large exhibitions this autumn. There will, 
however, be a special evening on November 26th, at 
the Society’s rooms, for the exhibition of varieties 
in any branch of natural science. This Variety 
Exhibition should be one of exceptional interest to 
naturalists generally, who are invited to attend and 
also to exhibit specimens. 


THERE seems to have been a small flight this 
season of ‘‘ Camberwell-beauty ”’ butterflies (Vanessa 
antiopa) over Northern Scotland, where its occur- 
rence is rare. Specimens have been recorded from 
several localities extending over a considerable 
range of country. We have not seen any of these 
examples, so cannot speculate whether they came 
from Scandinavia or North America, by way of the 
Farée Islands. There is a distinct racial difference 
between the European and American forms of this 
handsome insect; the latter having the white 
borders more thickly dusted with small dark spots. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


SIREX JUVENCUS IN SuRREY.—I found a fine 
female of this insect in a garden at Leatherhead on 


September 2oth, this year. Can anyone tell me if 
the male of this handsome fly is ever seen, I know 
of no record of its capture?—H. Mead Briggs, St. 
Mary’s Road, Ealing. 


VANESSA ANTIOPA IN SkyE.—A friend who has 
just returned from the Isle of Skye has given mea 
fine specimen of the Camberwell Beauty butterfly, 
which he took there on September 17th. Is not 
this unusually far north for it to occur ?—K. A. 
Deakin, Cofton Parsonage. 


DERIVATION OF ‘‘ CLEAT.’'—I should be glad if 
some one of your readers would supply me with 
the etymology of the substantive, ‘‘ cleat.’ I have 
not heard of the word in the Midlands, but in 
certain districts in Yorkshire it is in frequent 
use. It is there applied to the colt’s-foot (Tussilago 
farfara). Near here (Bedford) is a hill which 
is known locally as Cleat Hill. Upon this rising 
ground is a thick deposit of clay, which renders 
the soil eminently suitable for the prolific growth 
of colt’s-foot. Of that particular plant there 
is a sufficiently large quantity to make it notice- 
able. In the absence of any other reason for 
the hill to be so named, I have supposed that 
this distinctive presence of cleat is connected with 
the origin of the particular appellation.—L. Amb. 
Roberts, 19, High Street, Bedford. 


UNIO LITTORALIS IN PLEISTOCENE TIME.—The 
interesting article by Mr. A. S. Kennard in the last 
number of ScrENCE-GossiP is most valuable to all 
students of the Mollusca, giving, as it does, a 
reliable and up-to-date account of the distribution 
in England of Unio littovalis, Lam., during pleis- 
tocene time. Looking at the localities mentioned, 
it would appear that they were situated in the line 
of the ancient river system, and by this means this 
species with other freshwater forms were dis- 
tributed. A study of its present distribution in 
France, Spain and other localities mentioned, with 
the conditions of existence, might afford some idea 
as to its manner of life in England. My object, 
however, in sending this note is to mention one 
other locality for the above species, not recorded 
by Mr. Kennard, viz., Orton Waterville, near 
Peterborough, where it was associated with the 


usual mammalian remains and the following 
mollusca: Planovbis carinatus, Limnea _ peregra, 
Bythinia tentaculata, Valvata piscinalis, Ancylus 


Sluviatilis, Pisidium amnicum and Helices.—A . Loydell, 
19, Chaucer Road, Acton, W. 


LeaF VarRIATION.—In discussing the subject of 
leaf variation as determined by the influence of 
the environment, we must ‘carefully distinguish 
between such as is caused by the plant ‘‘ struggling ” 
to avoid a too excessive transpiration, and such 
as is due to the struggle to adapt itself to more 
favourable conditions of assimilation. For instance, 
in the dandelion leaves figured at page 117 ante, 
No. I grows under conditions where there is no 
necessity for any special struggle of any kind, 
hence the leaf normally develops, but it is thin, 


165 


and its palisade tissue is not well expanded. In 
figs. 2, 3and 4, the external conditions are much more 
favourable both for transpiration and for assimi- 
lation, hence the total area of the leaf is contracted, 
while at the same time its thickness is increased, and 
its palisade tissue is much more developed. It is 
not exactly correct tosay, therefore, as Mr. Wheldon 
does, that plants ‘‘occupying the driest situations 
exhibit the least development of parenchyma.” The 
thickness of the lamina must be taken into account, 
and the ratio which the palisade bears to the 
lacunar tissue is exceedingly important. In the 
case of certain Ranunculi, Potamogeton, etc., which 
grow partially immersed in the water. The action 
of the aqueous medium by arresting the differentia- 
tion of the leaves in the bud, tends to produce an 
aphyllie more or less complete. Hence the process 
here is an arrest of development, rather than a 
special adaptation. As Mr. Wheldon puts it, 
“the capillary leaves almost totally disappear, 
and only leaves of the floating palmate or partite 
kind develop.’’ That is, in this case, while the 
total area of the leaf is diminished, it at the same 
time gets attenuated, transparent, and sometimes 
the palisade tissue, etc., disappears altogether. — 
(Dr.) P. Q. Keegan, Patterdale, Westmorland. 


THECLA PRUNI IN HEREFORDSHIRE.—In June of 
the present year, I was out for a long day’s tramp 
with a friend in Herefordshire. Pond-hunting, for 
which we were provided with the necessary impedi- 
menta, was to be a subsidiary object of the day’s 
programme, and during our walk my friend pointed 
out some iris and other aquatic plants that indi- 
cated the presence of water. On reaching the 
spot we found that the plants were growing 
luxuriantly from the dried-up bed of a small pond. 
Although all water had disappeared, the bed of the 
pond was still sufficiently damp to easily take the 
impress of one’s feet, and I noticed that the bases 
of the water-plants were thickly populated by 
the molluscous inhabitants of the pond who had 
migrated thither on the complete evaporation of 
the water. But what attracted my attention most 
was the profusion of a lepidopterous insect that 
from limited entomological knowledge I could only 
identify as one of the Hair-streaks. Having no 
means of collecting any, I tcok two in one of my 
pond-life bottles just for the purpose of identifica- 
tion, and on consulting a very old and imperfect 
entomological work some weeks afterwards I made 
out the insect to be the black Hair-streak butterfly 
(Thecla pruni) and found it described as very local, 
and giving about half-a-dozen English localities. 
On this I communicated with two friends who are 
capable entomologists, and their replies coincided 
in describing it as a very good find, neither of 
them possessing a specimen. The insect was in 
considerable profusion, quite a couple of dozen 
flitting about the area of the dried-up pond, and 
frequently resting on the aquatic plants, for the 
day was rather a boisterous one. They were in 
very finecondition. The particular neighbourhood 
of this small pond seemed especially attractive to 
many and varied kinds of life. Odonata were 
represented by one or two species, moths by several 
species, and dipterous insects in profusion; but 
beyond the presence of the wild mint, which 
certainly scented the surrounding air very strongly, 
I could discern nothing that seemed likely to offer 
special attractions to the insect tribe. I have 
purposely refrained from giving the precise locality 
of the insect, as it is not desirable for some 
collectors to know this.—George T. Harris, 33, 
Lindove Road, New Wandsworth, S.W. 


166 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


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City oF LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History SocirETty.—Tuesday, September 15th, 
1896.—Exhibits: Mr. Tutt, eggs of Pamphila 
comma, which were hemispherical, inclining to 
conical, in shape, with a slight depression on the 
summit, and of a dingy grey colour. Also some 
Aglais urticae, exactly resembling typical English 
specimens (excepting, perhaps, a rather richer 
colouring on the underside), although they had 
been bred from a very dark Continental specimen. 
Mr. May, three Epinephele janiva, showing various 
degrees of that failure in the development of the 
pigment commonly expressed by the misleading 
word ‘bleached’; also two specimens of 
Triphena ovbona (subsequa), and an example of 
Limenitis sibylla, showing very few traces of white 
on the wings, all from the New Forest. Rev. 
C. R. N. Burrows, a gynandrous Gonopteryx 
libatrix, a Trviphena pronuba, with longitudinal dark 
streaks on the fore-wings; a Leucania pallens, with 
asymmetrical neuration, and reddish suffused 
specimens of Agvrotis pula and Mamestra brassicae, 
all taken on sugar at Rainham, Essex. Mr. 
Bloomfield, Catocala sponsa and Dianthecia cucubalt, 
among other insects, from Bures, Suffolk, Mr. 
J. H. S. Smart, a bred Catocala nupta, having both 
sides of the hind wings suffused entirely- with 
purplish black, the usual black bars being quite 
distinct. Mr. May said he had seen a specimen of 
Argynnis paphia in the New Forest, with a strong 
tinge of the valezina colouration on the right hind 
wing. Mr. Heasler reported that he had heard 
on trustworthy authority that about a score of 
black Limneitis sibylla had been captured in the 
New Forest this year by various collectors.—C. 
Nicholson and L. J. Tvemayne, Hon. Secs. 


SoutH LonpoN ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History Soctety, September toth, 1896.—Mr. 
W. Mansbridge, F.E.S., in the chair. Mr. A. E. 
Hall exhibited a gravid female of Gevmes bellicosus 
from Cape Coast Castle, and a series of captured 
Callimorpha hera from Newton Abbot. Mr. Lucas, 
a female of Platetvum depressum, having the male 
blue colouration, a male Calopteryx virgo, having 
the right fore-wing without the dark pigment, and 
a pair of the rare grasshopper, Thamnotrizon cinereum 
from the New Forest. Mr. Montgomery, a bred 
series of Dianthecia capsincola from Eastbourne, one 
specimen had a wide sub-marginal line and a 
marginal area without the wavy lines.—September 
24th, Mr. C. G. Barrett, F.E.S., in the chair. Mr. 
R. Adkin, living larvee of Lycena argiolus, in situ on 
the buds of ivy-blossom, from Eastbourne, also full 
fed larvee of Aflecta occulta. Mr. Filer, a fine 
variety of Evnodia hyperanthes, having the white 
spots surrounded by yellow rings only, the black 
rings being entirely obsolete. It was taken in 
Essex. Mr. Moore, specimens of Thelyphonus 
giganteus, a species midway between the scorpions 
and the spiders, from Florida, and contributed 
notes. Also, he showed specimens of Polistes 
annulavis and a nest. Mr. Turner, a varied series 
of Noctua xanthographa, including a black form, a 
pale form, a red form, anda form with unusually 


well-defined stigmata; a very dark Agvotis segetum 
from Kent ; a Tviphena pronuba with a remnant of 
a discoidal spot ; and two bred Acronycta aceris with 
the veins of the secondaries deeply lined with 
black. Mr. Montgomery, specimens of Noctua 
diatvapezium from South Yorks. Mr. Barrett, very 
long and varied series of Tephrosia biundulavia and 
T. cvepusculavia, and sought to establish the identity 
of the two forms. After considerable discussion, it 
was decided to adjourn the matter for further 
consideration at the next meeting, to give members 
the opportunity of exhibiting their own series. 
October 8th, 1896, Mr. T. W. Hall, F.E.S., 
Vice-President, in the chair. Mr. Ficklin ex- 
hibited several species of Lepidoptera set in their 
natural positions of rest, thus showing the 
pattern of the transverse markings which adapted 
them to their surroundings. Mr. Carpenter, a 
male specimen of Polyommatus (Lycena) icarus 
with a completely bleached hind wing, from 
Folkestone; several female examples of Pavrarge 
megeva, bred from Ranmore Common, having a 
tendency to form a broad, black, medium band ; and 
a bred series of Chrysophanus (Polyommatus) philaas, 
from Abbot’s Wood, having well-developed blue 
spots on, the secondaries. Mr. H. Moore, two 
large species of Orthoptera from Florida, viz.: 
Romalea microptera and Cyrtacanthacris subsittaca. 
Mr. John T. Carrington, Calophasia platyptera, Esp., 
a species of moth new to Britain, taken by himself 
between Shoreham and Brighton on September 
t4th, 1896. The species is closely allied to the 
“‘shark moths.” Mr. Ashdown, a specimen of the 
rare Coleopteron, Molochus minor, from Mickleham, 
and a black var. of Toxotus meridianus, from Surrey. 
Mr. Adkin, a bred series of Calocampa vetusta, from 
Sutherland, and a bred second brood of Acidalia 
virgulavia (incanavia), from Brockley. Mr. Lucas, 
an apparently hitherto unnoted variety of Pyramius 
(Vanessa) atalanta, having the indistinct deep black 
blotches which are anterior to the red marginal 
band of the hind wings, with well-marked blue 
centres. It was captured at Claygate by Mr. H. 
L. Hearsum, of Kingston. Mr. Barrett, a pupa- 
case and cocoon of Pamphila (Hesperia) comma, 
which had been found by Mr. Hamm, of Reading, 
and also some eggs which had been deposited on 
stems of grass by an observed female. A discussion 
took place as to what was the usual food-plant of 
the larva of the species. The general opinion was 
that it is a grass feeder, as are most Pamphilids. 
Mr. C. A. Briggs, a fly taken from a starling, 
presumably Ovnithomyla aviculavia, one of the 
Hippoboscidze infesting birds. Mr. H. J. Turner, 
a living specimen of Uvopteryx sambricata, taken 
in his garden on October 8th, and no doubt 
an individual of a second brood. The following 
arrangements have been made for coming meetings 
of this Society: October 22nd, a discussion on 
Tephrosia biundularia and T. crepuscularia, opened 
by Mr. C. G. Barrett, F.E.S.; November, 12th, 
‘“Notes made during my holiday on Acidalia margini- 
punctata, and on the earlier stages of the second 
brood of Lycena argiolus,” by Mr. R. Adkin, F.E.S.; 
November 26th, an Exhibition of varieties of all 
orders (friends and visitors cordially invited) ; 
December roth, ‘‘ Notes on the North American 
Agrotis subgothica,’’ by Mr. W. Mansbridge, F.E.S.- 
—Hy. J. Turner, Hon. Report. Sec- 


NortH Lonpon Naturat History SociETY.— 
On Monday, August 3rd, 1896, this society made 
an excursion to Tunbridge Wells. Travelling 
by the 8.45 excursion train from Cannon Street, 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


the party arrived at Tunbridge Wells about eleven 
o'clock, and immediately proceeded to the house of 
Mr. George Abbott, M.R.C.S., Secretary of the 
South-East Union of Scientific Societies, who had 
kindly consented to lead the excursion. The first 
move was toa small museum, kept going by the 
local Natural History Society, and containing 
many attractive geological specimens, but princi- 
pally interesting on account of an admirable 
collection of living wild flowers. The party next 
went on to the common, where Mr. Abbott pointed 
out the lesser dodder (Cuscuta epithymum), parasitic 
on the furze and heather. Geology was then the 
order of the day, and the rocks at the far end of 
the common were shown and commented on by 
our guide, who subsequently utilized several 
building cuttings to explain the geological forma- 
tion of the district. Our route now lay round by 
Hurst Wood on to Rusthall Common and to the 
Toad Rock, which Mr. Abbott also explained as a 
perfectly natural formation, being composed of a 
harder substance than the strata by which it was 
formerly surrounded, and which had been weathered 
away. Some people, however, believe this rock to be 
a relic of an ancient sphinx. Leaving Rusthall, we 
made for the High Rocks Hotel, and in the lane lead- 
ing thereto found Lactuca muralis growing abundantly 
on the old walls and hedgerows. Up to the 
present, the only lepidoptera seen had been a few 
specimens of Lycena icarus and Pararge megaera, 
together with some Heaths and Meadow Browns. 
But now Messrs. Bishop and Bacot plied the 
hedges with their beating-sticks to some purpose. 
A good specimen of Zonosoma porata fell to the net 
of the former gentleman, and an unusually finely- 
marked example of Asthena candidata to Mr. Fuller. 
Shortly afterwards Mr. Bishop captured another 
Acidalia, which no one of the party was able to 
certainly name, but which it was thought might be 
a nice var. of A. aversata. About the same time, 
the Secretary took a specimen of Eubolia bipunctaria 
from a fence. After lunch at the High Rocks 
Hotel, the party started for Broadwater Forest. 
Coming out on to a breezy heath, it was discovered 
that a few specimens of Lycena egon were flying 
among the innumerable L. icavus. At the same 
time Mr. L. J. Tremayne beat a male Drapana binaria 
from a small birch tree, and several fine examples 
of Polyommatus phloeas were taken. Meanwhile the 
botanists collected Epilobium angustifolium, Scutell- 
avia minor, Narthecium ossifragum, Solidago virga- 
aurea, Ulex nanus and Serratula tinctorvia, upon which 
Cuscuta epithymum again occurred. Rhamnus frangula 
was also noted. On descending towards the Eridge 
Woods, a ditch lined with Blechnum gave the first 
indication of what was to come in the way of 
Filices. A small piece of marshy ground, thickly 
sprinkled with Lastrea, was next traversed, where 
careful search was made for specimens of Drosera 
and Gentiana pneunomanthe, but, owing to the 
dryness of the season at the period, none were 
found. The leaves of Viola palustris were plentiful 
here. Then, entering the woods, the party sud- 
denly found themselves in the midst of a perfect 
wealth of most beautiful ferns. Lastrea filix-mas, 
L. dilatata, Ethyvium filix-femina, were all represented, 
together with Blechnum spikant, and, apparently, 
several species of Aspflenium, whilst Polypodium 
vulgave grew on the rocks above. The finest and 
most noticeable species was the lemon or hay- 
scented fern (Lastvea aemula), which was growing in 
the greatest beauty and profusion. Afterwards, 
the party visited Eridge Rocks, by kind permission 
of the Marquis of Abergavenny, stopping on the 


167 


way to collect the tiny Radiola millegrana, which 
was found growing abundantly in one or two spots. 
The whortleberry was also noticed sparingly here. 
The rocks, and the beautiful scenery around them, 
were much admired. A remarkable feature about 
these rocks is the curious honeycomb formation on 
many of their surfaces, caused by series of small 
circular holes, each having a slight upward 
tendency. Traces of this honeycombing are found 
in nearly every set of rocks throughout the Tun- 
bridge Wells district, but the best examples of it 
are to be seen on the road from the Wells to the 
High Rocks Hotel. Mr. Abbott said the phe- 
nomenon was quite inexplicable. A dead pine tree, 
completely riddled with small holes, apparently 
the work of some beetle, was also inspected at the 
Eridge Rocks, and then, after tea at a neighbouring 
inn, the party enjoyed a quiet and pretty. walk of 
about three miles back to Tunbridge Wells. Then 
there was another adjournment to Mr. Abbott's 
house, where our host, besides providing light 
refreshments, showed us over his fernery and 
collection of curiosities. The latter were princi- 
pally geological, and included some curious speci- 
mens of naturally-formed iron piping surrounded 
by and filled with sand from the Folkestone beds 
at Oxshott. The members subsequently returned 
to London in good time. The heartiest thanks 
were tendered to Mr. Abbott for the trouble 
he took over this excursion. The programme 
was admirably arranged and carried out, and 
seemed to leave time for loitering just in the right 
spots. The weather was fairly fine throughout, 
and the ramble was one of the most varied 
and interesting ever taken by the Society.— 
Thursday, August 27th, 1896.—Mr. S. Austen, 
Treasurer, in the chair. After numerous exhibits 
and observations, Mr. Quail read a paper entitled, 
“‘ Neuratian : Observations and Remarks in refer- 
ence to the Rhopalocera,’’ in which he went 
carefully through the present families, and stated 
that there was no solid foundation for considering 
the Rhopalocera to have evolved from the super- 
family Zeuzerides. He endeavoured to show that 
there were at least three primary groups: 
Papilionidae, Pieridae, and Nymphalidae. The 
most ancient of the Pieridae were the Anthocaridi, 
and from these have probably evolved the present 
Pieridae, and (possibly) the Lycaenidae, which 
Mr. Quail felt justified in considering closely 
connected with them. Among the Nymphalids, 
the common ancestor was probably in or near the 
tribe Danaidi, and from this, Argynnidi, Vanessidi, 
Nymphalidi and the Satyrinae seem to have 
evolved. A lengthy and interesting discussion 
ensued.—Thursday, September roth, 1896.—Mr. J. 
Wheeler, Vice-President, in the chair. After a 
number of exhibits had been examined, Mr. 
Harvey opened a discussion on ‘‘The Emerald 
Moths.” He gave a short life-history of each 
species, and said it was a remarkable thing that 
nearly all the larve, though hatching so early in 
the autumn, go through the winter in a very small 
state, and do most of their feeding afterwards. 
Mr. Nicholson suggested the possibility of a 
second brood of Jodis lactiavia. Mr. Quail referred 
to the discovery of a pink variety of Metrocampa 
margaritayia onthe Continent. Mr. L. J. Tremayne 
enquired as to the likelihood of the extermination 
of Phorodesina smavagdaria in its present restricted 
haunts, and if any special means had yet been 
discovered of preserving the delicate colour of 
these beautiful moths. Mr. Simes referred to the 
discovery of Phorodesina smaragdaria by Mr. Tutt 


168 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


in the High Alps, a find which Mr. Harvey subse- 
quently characterized as very curious, considering 
the location of the insect here.—The fifth annual 
Pocket Box Exhibition was held September 24th, 
1896. Mr. L. J. Tremayne exhibited Vicia 
tetvasperina, Tovilis nodosa, Barum  segetum, and 
some curious and unnameable specimens of 
Epilobium from Leigh; also living examples of 
Lastvaea aemula and Hymenophyllum tunbridgense, 
from Tunbridge Wells. Mr. R. W. Robbins 
showed butterflies from Lucerne, including 
Parnassius apollo, several species of Evebia, 
Lycaena, etc., also British Lepidoptera, including 
Bombyx trefoliit, from Lyndhurst, Stauropus fagi 
from Oxshott, etc.; also plants from Lucerne, 
Selborne, Boxhill, etc. Mr. Battley had specimens 
of Sesia chrysidiformis, Tapinostola bondii, Xylophasia 
sublustris, Lithosia griseola, Eupithecia coronata, and 
Acidalia imitarvia from Folkestone, and Lithosia 
complana, L. mesomella, Minoa murinata and Henninia 
devivalis from Canterbury.—Lawrence J. Tremayne, 
Hon. Secretary. 
LAMBETH FIELD CLUB AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.— 
The Annual Soiree and Exhibition was held on 
- Monday, October 12th. at the Lambeth Wesleyan 
School, and was well attended in spite of unfavour- 
able weather. A varied collection of objects was 
shown, among which may be specially mentioned 
varieties of Helix nemoralis and H. hortensis, by Mr. 
Carrington ; living reptiles, Mr. Crow ; Lepidoptera, 
Mr. Chadwick ; fungi, Mr. Rivers; botanical speci- 
mens from Manitoba, Miss F. Winstone; African 
curiosities, Mr. Sauzé; and a series illustrating the 
development of the ‘‘ jumping bean,’’ Mr. Yeatman- 
Woolf; physical science was illustrated by a 
Wimshurst machine, Mr. Baker; the electric spark 
under the microscope, Mr. Keane; the production 
of acytelene gas, Mr. Caffrey; the telephone, Mr. 
Stokes ; and the spectroscope, through which the 
spectra of Argon and Helium were shown, Mr. 
Denton. An especial source of attraction was the 
demonstration of the ‘‘X” rays, kindly given by Dr. 
Rose; photographs were taken by the rays, and 
visitors were shown the bones of their hands on the 
fluorescent screen. A short lecture on the Felide 
was given by Mrs. Rose; the subject was treated 
from an evolutionary standpoint, and it wasexplained 
that the apparently conspicuous stripes of the tiger 
and spots of the leopard were really excellently 
adapted for concealment in the jungle or forest.— 
HI. Wilson, Hon. Sec., 14, Melbourne Square, Brixton. 


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CORRESPONDENCE. 


MertTuyr Guest (Henstridge) asks if it is really true that 
a tap on the top of a freshly-boiled egg prevents it from 
getting hard while cooling. If this is a fact, what is the 
explanation ? 


EXCHANGES. 

Notice.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including 
name and address) admitted free, but additional words must 
be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words 
or less. 


SciencE-Gossip, 1875 to June, 1888, unbound, in good 
condition. What offers?—J. F. Greenway, 11, High Street, 
West Bromwich. 

WanTED, SciENcE-Gossip for December, 1887, and Jan- 
uary, 1888 (Nos 276 and 277); one shilling each given.—R. 
Williamson, 3, Keir Street, Poilokshields, Glasgow. 

Dupiicates.—Semele, zgeria, zgon, argiolus, lucina, 
paphia, piniaria, decolorata, palumbaria and 100 others ; also 
500 species of Coleoptera. Desiderata, numerous and foreign 
stamps.—A. Ford, 48, Rugby Road, Brighton. 

Sctence-Gossip for 1892, January number missing; 1893, 
numbers for September, October, November and December 
missing, and Vertigo pusilla, V. alpestris, V. substriata, 
Pupa anglica and other rare shells offered in exchange for 
Vertigo minutissima, V. angustior, V. moulinsiana, Succ. 
oblonga, Lim. involuta and others, or foreign land shells 
and postage stamps.—A. Hartley, 14, Croft Street, Idle, 
Yorkshire. 

*‘QUEKETT MIcROSCOPICAL CLUB JOURNALS,” 1884-1891; 
Prantl and Vines’ ‘‘ Text Book of Botany’”’; Wiedersteim’s 
“Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates.” What. offers? 
Wanted, Echinoderms, foreign shells, etc—H. W. Parritt, 8, 
Whitehall Park, N. 

OFFERED, ‘‘ The Thinker,” last volume unbound; ‘‘ The 
Liver Fluke,’ Halse; ‘‘ Handbook of Mosses,’’ Bagnall; 
“Sa Cle de Ja Flore de Suisse et de Savoie.” Desiderata, 
British and European shells.—A. Loydell, 19, Chaucer Road, 
Acton, W. 

Exotic shells, marine and terrestrial, from Australia and 
elsewhere, for exchange.—W. Turner, Liberton, Edinburgh. 

OFFERED, SCIENCE-GossIP, January to October, 1892, 
January to May, 1891; “Field Club,” January to May, 1894. 
Wanted, Blackboard compasses, sign-writer’s brushes.— 
S. W. Heaton, 53, Cassland Road, Hackney. 

OFFERED, minerals, fossils, British and foreign shells, 
polished geological, Devonian and other specimens, micro- 
scopical slides, material, SciENcE-Gossir, 1890-1895 (few 
unpublished). Desiderata numerous.—A. Sclater, North- 
umberland Place, Teignmouth. 

A LARGE number of natural history books and magazines 
for disposal, including back volumes of SciENcE-GossIP, 
“The Entomologist,” ete.; list on application, Wanted, 
store boxes or offers.—W. Harcourt-Bath, 198, Winson 
Green Road, Birmingham. 

OFFERED, ScIENCE-Gossip for 1896, unbound, fair con- 
dition. Wanted, natural history specimens, curios, or 
antiquities.—_F. G. Bing, 3, Brafferton Road, Croydon. 

WANTED, mosses, Myromycetes and micro fungi in 
exchange for slides, chiefly botanical.—E. Chas. Horrell, 
Royal College of Science, South Kensington, W. 

MicroscorE SLipes.—A number of selected diatoms for 
disposal, either sale or exchange.—J. B. Bissell, 8, Elmgrove 
Road, Bristol. 

LANTERN slides from micro slides given in exchange for 
micro slides of any description. Diatoms and entomological 
specimens wanted, also microscopic apparatus; will 
eer camera.—R. Borrows, 18, Pensbury Street, Dar- 
ington. 

SUaeoee Helix obvoluta, Bulimus montanus, and other 
shells or birds’-eggs. Offered, Vertigo pygmza, V. edentula, 
etc.—W. Gyngell, 5, Murchison Street, Scarborough. 

For exchange, White’s “Natural History and Antiquities 
of Selborne,”’ 1813 quarto edition, complete, in first-rate con- 
dition and original binding.—E. A. Martin, 69, Bensham 
Manor Road, Thornton Heath. 

HELIx ARBUSTORUM, H. cantiana, H. hortensis, vars. 
incarnata and lilacina, H. lapicida, H. nemeoralis, vars. 
libellula, castanea and rubella, Bulimus stutchburzi, Pupa, 
Uva, etc. Wanted, others not in collection—W. Domaille, 
37, Argyle Road, St. Paul’s, Bristol. = 

For exchange, lesser kestrels, mealy redpoles, downy and 
hairy woodpeckers, black and_ yellow-billed cuckoos, 
Barbary partridges, killdeer plovers, common and spotted 
sandpipers, noody and sooty terns, eic—Thomas Raine, 
Woodland View, Chapel-Allerton. 


i 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 169 


WATER-MITES OF FOLKESTONE WARREN. 


By CHARLES D. Soar. 


‘At the east end of the fashionable watering- 

place on the Kentish coast, so well-known as 
Folkestone, is a wild, rugged piece of land called 
the Warren, well-known to most visitors to that 


e 


no doubt was formed in the first instance by an 
enormous landslip. It is of great wildness and 
beauty, the surface is undulating, no part is flat; 
it is all hillocks and hollows, clothed with a 


, 


7 
Fry. 10 


WatTeER-MITES. 


Fig. 1, ventral surface of Limnochares holosericea; fig. 2, ventral surface of Nesaea pulchra ; fig. 3, genital area of Nesaea 
convexa; fig. 4, Hydrachna cruenta, showing hard chitinous piece behind and between eyes; fig. 5, epimera and legs of one 
side of same; fig. 6, Hydrodvoma helvetica, shape of plate; fig.7, dorsal surface of male Hygrobates hemisphaericus; tig. 8, 
dorsal surface of Limnesia fulgida; figs. 9 and to, genital areas of male and female of same. 


delightful resort. It extends from the East Cliff, 
Folkestone, alongside the sea towards Dover for 
about two miles. The northern side is walled in 
by a high chalky cliff, which reaches as much as 
450 feet above sea-level. This rugged undercliff, 


DECEMBER, 1896.—No. 31, Vol. 3. 


beautiful green herbage, and in places thickly 


covered with brambles and thickets. There are 
a few small trees, but very few. To the naturalist 
the Warren has particular attractions. Geologists, 


entomologists and botanists can spend time here 


170 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


to great advantage in collecting. One cannot go 
to the Warren at any time of the summer season 
without finding some votaries of some of the 
natural sciences pursuing their hobby: geologists 
with their hammers, entomologists with their 
collecting nets, and the botanist with his tin 
vasculum. 

At the bottom of several hollows in the Warren, 
are some small ponds of water, and it was to these 
ponds during August I paid several visits. Pond 
life in the Warren has, I believe, received a good 
deal of attention from some microscopists and 
other naturalists; but I cannot find that any 
person has yet recorded the Hydrachnides found 
there; so it is to this interesting family of the 
Acarina, I now wish to draw attention. 

In August, 1894, I was staying at Folkestone. 
During that time I paid several visits to the 
Warren and collected all the Hydrachnides I could. 
As I did not think I had found anything like all 
the species that occurred there, I contented myself 
with making drawings and keeping a record of 
what I did find, making up my mind at the first 
opportunity to complete what I had then begun. 

This opportunity came in August this year. I 
have done all I can to make the list as complete 
as possible, but with all the time I have spent 
there it is quite possible I may still have left 
some species in the ponds undiscovered. If so, 
some other naturalist, perhaps a member of the 
Folkestone Natural History Society, or Micro- 
scopical Society, will be able to add to those 
species I now record. There is one male red 
Arvrenurus I should have liked to have taken. I 
found the female, but I cannot, without the male, 
give its name, so I shall have to leave this one out 
of my list. 

There are in all about five small ponds of fresh 
water more or less covered with the common duck- 
weed. These ponds are close together ; the largest 
does not cover more than a hundred square yards 
of surface, but small as they are, they teem with 
life. I have visited these ponds a great many 
times, and spent hours at each, so as to make the 
collection of water-mites as exhaustive as possible. 
I found representatives of ten distinct genera, of 
which I give the list below. Where a figure has 
already been given in England, and is easily 
accessible to all lovers of natural history, it will 
not be necessary to repeat that figure again, but 
only refer to the reference. Of others I propose to 
give an outline drawing to assist identification. 
The ordinary collecting-net with glass tube at 
bottom was used. The greater number of mites 
were kept alive and examined on my return to 
London. 

_ Genus I.—Eylais (Latreille). Fourth pair of legs 
without swimming-hairs. Eyes in centre of body. 

Eylais extendens (Miller). A large red mite, very 


common in the largest pond. It is easily recog 
nized by its having two pairs of eyes close together ; 
a small figure is given in ‘‘The Micrographic 
Dictionary,” 1883, plate 6, fig. 28, which shows this 
mite very well, but the hairs on the fourth pair of 
legs are drawn too long. This species is not the 
Hydrachnid figured in SciencE-GossiP under this 
name in 1885. 

Genus II.—Limnochares (Latreille). All legs 
without swimming-hairs. Eyes in centre of body. 

Limnochares holosericea (Latreille). Red crawling 
mite, very difficult to draw, on account of its con- 
tinual change in shape; common in same pond as 
above. Ventral surface (fig. 1). 

Genus III.—Diflodontus (Duges). Palpus short 
and nipper-shaped, four eyes, two ventral and two 
dorsal; soft-skinned, swimming-hairs. 

Diplodonius despiciens (Miller). Very brilliant- 
coloured mite; varies much in size. Common at 
the Warren in 1894, but not this year. For figure 
and description, see ‘‘International Journal of 
Microscopy,’’ October, 1896. 

Genus IV.—Arrenurus (Duges). Swimming- 
hairs, body chitinous, depressed line on dorsal 
surface, epimera in three groups. 

Arrenurus caudatus (De Geer). A beautiful tailed 
mite, common in first pond from East Cliff. See 
Dr. George’s figure in SclENCE-GossiP, 1882, p. 273, 
under name A. buccinatoy. The female is figured in 
ScIENCE-GossIpP, 1883, p. 36. 

Arrenurus viridis (Duges). Not common at the 
Warren, I only took a single male specimen, see 
Dr. George’s figure in SciENCE-Gossip, 1882, p. 
273, fig. 210. 

Genus V.—WNesaea (Koch). Swimming-hairs, 
body soft, epimera in four groups, numerous 
genital suckers on each side of genital fissure. 

Nesaca pulchva (Koch). A dark yellow mite with 
pale-blue legs. Rather common. Fig. 2, ventral 
surface. 

Nesaea convexa (Koch). A large dark-yellow 
mite with a red mark on dorsal surface, short 
palpus. Fig. 3 is the genital area only, the struc- 
ture of this species otherwise being very similar to 
fig. 2. The legs are a blue colour, dark. 

Genus WI.—Piona (Koch). Swimming-hairs, 
body soft, epimera in four groups. Three genital 
pores on each side of the genital figure. 

Piona ovata (Koch). Dark-yellow with black 
markings, blue legs. For figure see ‘‘ International 
Journal of Microscopy,” July, 1896. It will be 
noticed that species of this genus are very much 
like species of genus Nesaea. That is so, but for 
two distinctive features: three pores on each side 
of genital fissure, and a small peg on palpi near the 
fifth joint. 

Genus VII.—Hydvachna (Miller). Swimming- 
hairs, body soft, epimera in four groups, mouth 
organs projected as far forward as palpi. 


— Sea 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Hydvachna cruenta (Miller). This Hydrachnid 
can easily be mistaken for Hydvachna globosa. If 
after the mite is killed, it is soaked in a five per 
cent solution of formalin, the colour will in a great 
measure be taken out of the body, except in a hard 
chitinous piece which is situated just behind and 
between the eyes (see fig. 4). It is this hardened 
piece of skin which shows it to be H. cruenta (Mill.) 
and not H. globosa (De Geer), the latter having 
two chitinous patches, one behind each eye. The 
epimera and legs of one side are given in fig. 5. 

Genus VIII.—Hydrodrvoma (Koch). Similar to 
above genus, but with a shaped chitinous plate on 
the anterior portion of the dorsal surface. 

Hydrodvoma helvetica (Haller). Another red 
mite with a plate of chiten which stands out in 
relief on the surface, which is not so in Hydvachna. 
Fig. 6 is the shape of the plate of this species. 
This mite was very common in 1894, but this 
year I only took two specimens in the nymph 
stage. 

Genus IX.—Hygrobates 


(IXoch). Body soft- 


171 


skinned. Legs well supplied with short swimming. 
bristles, epimera in three groups. Three genital 
suckers on each side of the genital fissure. 

Hygrobates hemisphaericus (Koch). A yellow mite, 
with pale-blue legs. I think these were always 
supposed to be river-mites, but I have taken a 
great many from ponds. Fig. 7 is dorsal surface 
of a male. 

GENUS X.—Limmesia (Koch). Body soft-skinned. 
Fourth pair of feet without claws. Three genital 
suckers on each side of genital fissure. 

Limnesia fulgida.—(Koch). Dark-red mite, with 
blue legs and epimera (see fig. 8.). Fig.g is the 
genital area of the male, and fig. 10 is the genital 
area of the female. 

This completes the list, as far as I have been 
able to collect. It may be, as I have previously 
said, I have not found all the Hydrachnides in the 
Warren. I shall be very much obliged to anyone 
finding others, if he will kindly send me on a 
specimen. 

1, Sussex Villas, Kensington, W. 


EEE Oh eORA OR ARCHIE NORWAY! 
By Joun CorpEeavux, M.B.O.U. 


ie August last I was a passenger from Bergen to 

Vads6, a small port in the Varanger Fjord, in 
East Finmarken, on the Bergen Steamship Com- 
pany’sship ‘‘ Neptune.’”’ The party on board was a 
large one, the primary object of this special expedi- 
tion being to witness the total eclipse of the sun on 
August 9th. Opportunities were given us, both 
on the outward and return journey, to land for a few 
hours at various places of interest on the coast. 
At Vadso, our ship remained from the morning of 
the 7th to the afternoon of the 9th of August. On 
the 8th, we visited a whaling station on the Jar 
Fjord, only a few miles from the Russian frontier. 
Here, and on the moors and tundra north of Vadso, 
I got the plants named in this list—comparatively 
it is a meagre and very imperfect one, from the 
limited time at my disposal, also from the lateness 
of the season, so many plants being out of bloom. 
At the same time it was most interesting, as an 
ornithologist, to be able to study the flora of the 
Arctic tundras, the breeding-haunts in the summer 
of such vast multitudes of European birds. 

In making this small collection of plants, I was 
greatly indebted to one of our party on board the 
Neptune—Miss May Roberts, of 8, Manchester 
Square, a specialist in cryptogamic botany. I 
have also to thank Mr. Edmund G. Baker, of the 
British Museum, for his kindness in naming several 
plants I was in doubt about; these are marked 
with an asterisk in the list; also I am indebted to 


the Rev. E. Adrian Woodruffe-Peacock, of Cadney, 
Lincolnshire, for going through the plants with me 
and revising the list. 


PLANTS AT VADSO AND THE JAR FJORD. 
August, 1896. 


* Salix ambuscula; S. herbacea; S. lanata; S. 
glauca; Betula nana ; * Juniperus nana; * Empetrum 
nigrum ; Vaccinium vitis idza, with magnificent clusters 
of scarlet berries, and leaves also bright scarlet 
after frosts; * V. myrtillus ; * V. uliginosum; * Arcto- 
staphyllos alpina; * Cornus suecica, both berries and 
occasionally blooms; * Rubus chamemorus, fruit 
most abundant. 

Nothing caused me more astonishment than 
the abundance and luxuriance of berries on these 
last eight fruit-bearing plants. In some places the 
delicious fruit of the cloudberry, the Norwegian 
‘“ Multiber,’ gave a colour to the ground. It 
seems the commonest plant on the tundra. Ina 
few weeks from August gth all this profusion of 
small fruits will be buried deep in snow, but it is 
not wasted, and remains sweet and uninjured 
beneath the white mantle till the thaws of spring, 
when they will afford an inexhaustible supply of 
food, before any insect life is available, to countless 
hosts of migratory birds. 

Rubus arcticus, in flower, but no fruit found. There 
is no more lovely blossom in these wilds than the 
Arctic bramble, rose-coloured on a short, slender 


H 2 


172 


stem; the ternate leaves turn to scarlet and purple 
with the first touch of frost. Dryas octofetala, 
in seed, an occasional flower; Silene acaulis, also 
in seed, with occasional flowers ; Alchzmilla alpina ; 
Comarum palustre; Linnea borealis, in flower, 
fairly common in thickets of willow and Béetula 
nana on the moors; * Cerastium trigyanum; Par- 
nassia palustris; * Polygonum viviparum; * Pyrola 
votundifolia ; * Menziesta polifolia ; * Solidago virgaurea ; 
* Ranunculus acris; * Antennaria dioicum ; * Tojieldia 
palustris; *Saxtfraga stellaris; S. nivalis, rare, S. 
stellaris is the commonest of the two; S. aizoidzs, 
*Andromeda polifolia; *Gedum falusive; *Barisia 
alpina ; *Drosera votundijolia ; *Dianthus superbus, on 
rocks, at Jar Fjord, well called superb by Linnzus ; 
* Holosias scoticum ; * Arabis petrea ; Trientalis europea ; 
Saussurea alpina; Narthecium ossifragum; Caltha 
palustris ; Habenaria viridis. 

To botanise on an Arctic tundra is no easy task, 
it is a hop, skip and jump from one peaty lichen- 
covered (and the lichens are lovely with tints of 
scarlet, sea-green and rich bronze) stool to another ; 
a slip, and you plunge knee deep into the boggy soil 
between. Then there are great, smooth, level spaces 
thinly covered with aquatic vegetation, where the 
water shines in places and the depth of the 
trembling bog is unknown ; these have to be skirted 
and long detours made, for one false step might 
be disastrous, and, if alone, a veritable death-irap. 
The stony moors are excellent walking, but beware 
of the bogs in the shallow valleys between the 
low hills. 

In Hornvik Bay oN SLOPES OF NORTH CaPE.— 
Saussurea alpina; Rhodiola rosea ; Vicia cracca, extra- 
ordinary fine clusters of bloom; Tvollius europaeus, 
in seed; Ranunculus nivalis; Solidago virgaurea ; 
Epilobium augustifolium; Campanula rotundifolia ; 
Cochlearia ojjicinalis; Archangelica officinalis; Astra- 
galus alpinus. Were, at the most northerly point of 
Europe, these plants were growing in the greatest 
luxuriance on the green, swampy slopes on the 
north-east side of the Cape. 

AT THE BrIrRDROCK (Hjelmso), both Cochlearia 
officinalis and Silene maritima in detached patches 
on the rocky ledges. 

SVARTISEN GLACIER, HoLanps Fyorp.—On the 
terminal moraines of the glacier many of the 
Vads6 plants, Dryas and Silene, specially abundant ; 
besides these, *Gentiana campestris, a white variety, 
quite as common as the purple; *Aconiium sepien- 
trionale ; Galeopsts versicolor, Campanula rotundifolia, 
the finest and largest flowers of this plant I have ever 
seen; Spirga ulmasia; Polystichum lonchitis, Alpine 
holly fern; * Mertensia maritima, spreading in great 
patches on the gravel shore of the fjord; the 
small flowers are a most beautiful deep marine 
blue, rivalling the colour on the blue-striped wrasse 
of these waters. This plant grows also on the 
shores of Spitsbergen. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


TRONDHJEM, LeErRFos. — * Saxifraga cotyledon, 
“‘ Berg-kongen ’’—King of the Rocks; on boulders 
and rocks wet with the spray of the falls this 
lovely saxifrage waves its spikes of snowy blossoms; 
Campanula latifolia. 

At Voss.—Lycopodium annotinum; in the pine 
woods the ground is carpeted with this handsome 
club moss, mixed everywhere with the trailing 
stems of Linnea; here, like little haycocks, 
scattered through the woods, are the huge ant- 
hills of Formica congereus, only found in one place in 
Great Britain—the Black Wood of Rannock, in 
Perthshire. Smilacina bifolia, like a dwarf lily o 
the valley, and peculiar to Norway; *Knautia 
arvensis, in meadows; Linnea borealis, but no flowers, 
as at Vads6é: Vaccinium vitis id@a; Cornus suecica. 

Great-Cotes House, R.S.O., Lincoln ; 
October 20th; 1806. 


HOUSEHOLD INSECTS IN 
UNITED STATES. 


HE U.S. Department of Agriculture have 
issued a well-illustrated pamphlet on ‘‘ The 
Principal Household Insects of the United States.” 
The numerous household pests are dealt with under 
different chapters by various authors, the first 
being on mosquitoes and fleas, by Mr. L. O. 
Howard. He thinks the only effectual remedy for 
mosquitoes is the destruction of the larvz or breed- 
ing places by means of kerosene. Dust appears to 
be particularly favourable for the breeding and de- 
velopment of Pulex serraticeps, Gervius, the cat and 
dog flea, which is the common one in most parts 
of the world. As a remedy against the trouble- 
some clothes moth, the authors, Mr. L. Howard and 
Mr. C. L. Marlett recommend camphor, napthaline, 
or cedar chips. These are only effectual if the eggs 
of the moth have not already been laid, as their odour 
is repellent to the moths, but does not retard or in 
any way affect the development of the larve, which 
are the actual destructive agents, the moths being 
quite harmless to clothes. The authors suggest as 
an excellent, though not always possible, preven- 
tive against moths, keeping furs and clothes in a 
temperature of from forty to twenty degrees Fahren- 
heit.. The best remedy for the English cockroach, 
the trouble of so many households, is, according to 
Mr. Marlett, to place small cones of moistened gun- 
powder in an empty fireplace and light them. The 
smoke from the burning powder will make the 
roaches come out of the crevices in great numbers 
and rapidly paralyzes or kills them. A common 
tree frog placed in a room will do much towards 
clearing it of cockroaches by the morning. The 
book-louse, white ant, house ant, cheese, ham and 
flour mites, the larder beetle, fruit and vinegar 
flies, etc., are described, and remedies proposed. 


THE 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


so 


BIOLOGICAL JOTTINGS. 
By Rupo.r BEEr, F.L.S. 


1.—THE CELL. 

of PbS years ago Professor Max Verworn, writing 

of modern physiology, said: ‘‘The theory 
of the cell has long since disclosed that the cell 
is the elementary foundation-stone of the living 
body, the ‘elementary organism’ itself. . . . If 
physiology regards it at all as her task to inquire 
into the phenomena of life, she must seek these 
phenomena at the spot where they have their 
origin, at the focus of life-processes, in the cell.” 
These words of one so well qualified to speak as 
Verworn, are sufficient to show what an important 
part of biology, Cytology, or the science of the 
cell, has become. 

Unfortunately we have attempted to run before 
we could walk, and have, consequently, almost 
swamped the science with a deluge of theory. We 
cannot altogether wonder that this should be so. 
From time immemorial, man has felt a burning 
curiosity with regard to the nature of life, and 
when at last he has tracked the phenomenon to the 
narrow compass of a cell and is brought to a pause 
by the incapacity of his present means of research, 
can we be surprised that he should be impatient of 
delay, and should stretch out his hands beyond 
the curtain which divides the known from the 
unknown? Nothing can be more useful to science 
than a working hypothesis, but when, by frequent 
repetition, we forget that we are dealing with 
a theory and take it as a recognized fact, we 
fall into one of the most grievous errors that await 
a man of science. Upon one theory we shall 
then proceed to build another, and bit by bit, we 
shall weave a complicated network of dreams, 
with here and there, perhaps, a distorted fact 
twisted in until at last the whole baseless fabric of 
this vision topples over like a house of cards and 
‘‘leaves not a rack behind,” except the bitter 
knowledge that we have wasted so many valuable 
years over empty speculations. 

All this will seem very trite, but unfortunately it 
is too often forgotten, especially in cytology, where 
too much time and attention is given to quibbles 
about visionary biophors and idiosomes, which 
exist only in the minds of their upholders. All 
that can be said so far with any certainty is that 
the smallest unit capable of independent life is 
the cell. But even that very word “cell” is 
surrounded with confusion due to the many 
changes of meaning which it has passed through 
since its introduction into science by Robert Hooke 
in 1667. At one time it signified a tiny cavity like 
the cell of a bee's honey-comb; at another it 
implied the walls of the cavity, together with their 


contents; and more recently still, it has been-used 
to denote the contents apart from the enclosing 
walls. It isin this latter sense that I employ the 
term in the present article. 

It is better perhaps to adopt Professor Sachs’ 
terminology and to speak of the walls and the 
contents of the cavity together as constituting a 
cell, whilst the living part of the cell-contents, 
viz., the protoplasm (including the nucleus) is 
termed an ‘‘energid.’’ To be precise, one may 
define an energid as a nucleus together with the 
protoplasm which it governs. According to this 
plan, some part of the original meaning still attaches 
to the word cell, whilst the modern ideas of a 
living unit are summed up in the name “ energid.” 

Plain and straightforward as this all seems, 
there are, however, many things which militate 
against its entire success. One difficulty which 
has been raised against Sachs’ views is. the fact 
that protoplasm is not a quiet - stay-at-home 
substance which can be nicely packed up around 
a nucleus and thus without difficulty partitioned 
off asaunit. It isa mobile substance, wandering 
in all probability through the organism. We 
know that in plants there is continuity of proto- 
plasm from one cell to another (using here the 
word cell in Sachs’ sense), and there is very 


good reason for thinking that the plasma 
touches at one moment this nucleus, and is 
controlled by it, but that slowly it travels 


away, finding a passage through the delicate inter- 
communicating channels leading into neighbouring 
cells, and is thus brought within the range of 
influence of other nuclei, and so on from nucleus 
to nucleus throughout the organism. This is not, 
however, a serious objection to the idea of an 
energid. By that term we signify a nucleus 
together with the protoplasm which af any given 
moment is controlled by it. 

Another question which is intimately bound up 
with the conception of ‘ energids,’’ is whether 
there exist organisms or elemental parts of 
organisms which are destitute of nuclei. Some 
years ago numerous examples would have been 
forthcoming to answer this question in the affirma- 
tive. With improving means of research, however, 
these examples have fallen away one after the 
other, and at the present day it is only in three 
cases that there is any question at all. These are 
the red corpuscles of the blood, bacteria and certain 
members of the lowest class of algae—the Cyano- 
phyceae. With regard to the first, all that need be 
said is that physiologists are pretty well agreed 
that the red corpuscles are to be looked upon 


174 


rather as cell-products than as cells themselves. 
Around the bacteria and Cyanophyceae, the battle 
of nucleus or no nucleus is still warmly kept up. 
All who have worked at this difficult subject are, I 
believe, agreed that in the larger bacteria and 
Cyanophyceae at least, there is a distinction 
between a delicate peripheral layer of proto- 
plasmic (?) substance and alarge central body. The 
matter of uncertainty is in the interpretation which 
is to be given to thiscentral part. Are wetoregard 
it, with Biitschli and Zacharias, as the homologue 
of the nucleus, or, with Fischer and Migula, as 
merely a large central vacuole? At the present 
state of our knowledge it is difficult to hazard an 
opinion either way. The entire absence of the 
ordinary parts of a nucleus such as the nucleolus 
chromatin network, etc., has been urged against 
the view which holds it to be a nuclear representa- 
tive. When we regard the question, however, 
from the standpoint of evolution, is not this 
exactly what we should expect? In the lowliest 
organisms we should look for entirely undifferen- 
tiated nuclei, and only in organisms which by other 
signs we recognize as higher in the scale of 
development would we expect to find nuclei show- 
ing all the complexity of nucleolus, linin network, 
definitely arranged chromatin granules, etc. 

To my mind the whole problem appears to turn 
on chemical considerations. Glancing back at the 
history of chemical cytology, it will be recollected 
that many years ago Miescher isolated from animal 
eells a certain material which he termed nuclein. 
This substance has been shown to be characteristic 
of nuclei. The recent beautiful researches of 
Zacharias and Rosen have shown us a remarkable 
connection existing between nuclear activity and 
the presence of this nuclein in the nucleus. It has 
been shown that as the power of nuclear division, 
which is the most apparent activity of this organ, 
gradually fades away, so in like proportion does 
the quantity of nuclein diminish. There is some 
reason to believe therefore that one of the necessary 
conditions for the display of vital activity in a cell 
is that nuclein should be present; and all our 
experience goes to show that nuclein is the charac- 
teristic substance of the nucleus. When one asks, 
therefore, whether a certain cell is nucleated or 
not the question resolves itself into the further 
enquiry of whether nuclein does or does not occur. 

It seems to me to be no extravagant view to hold 
that in the simplest cell we have protoplasm in 
which nuclein is diffusely scattered ; as phylogenetic 
development advances the nuclein becomes drawn 
together into a special body, and slowly as evolu- 
tion proceeds we get produced the highly differen- 
tiated structure we are accustomed to find in the 
nucleus. I leave here quite out of the discussion 
all questions dealing with the origin or significance 
of the curious bodies known as centrosomes. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


What then has to be sought for in the central 
bodies of bacteria and cyanophyceae is nuclein. 
There have been found here certain granules which 
resist artificial gastric digestion. This is one of 
the properties of nuclein and therefore lends strong 
probability #0 the opinion that these particles are 
of the nature of nuclein. If a sufficient array of 
facts can be produced to show that these grains are 
indeed composed of nuclein, I think every justifica- 
tion will be given for regarding these larger bacteria 
and low algz as nucleated organisms. 

In the majority of the smaller bacteria which 
have been examined, no distinction of peripheral 
protoplasm and central body can be made out, and 
Professor Bitschli believes that nearly the whole 
organism corresponds to the ‘‘ central part ” of the 
larger forms. 

These are some of the problems which have to 
be attacked before we can satisfy our minds as to 
the meaning which should be attached to the word 
‘‘cell.”’ At the first glance we would imagine that 
no word in science was clearer or better under- 
stood; but in the hands of the numerous enthusi- 
astic workers in cytology its significance is ever 
changing, as they steadily push forward towards a 
more philosophical ideal. 


REFERENCES. 


” 


(t) Max Verworn. —‘‘ Modern Physiology, 
** Monist,’’ April, 1894; also ‘‘ Nature,”” November 
15th, 1894 (p. 58). 

(2) J. von Sachs.—‘‘ Physiolog Notizen,’’ ii., 
“Flora,” 1892. 

(3) J. von Sachs.—'‘ Physiolog Notizen,” ix, 
‘Flora,’ Erganzungsband, 1895. 

(4) O. Butschli.—‘‘ Ueber den Bau der Bacterien 
u. verwandter Organismen,” Leipzig, 1890. 

(5) O. Bitschli—‘‘ Weitere Ausfiihrungen iber 
den Bau der Cyanophyceen, etc.,’’ Leipzig, 1896. 

(6) E. Zacharias.—‘‘ Ueber die Zellen der 
Cyanophyceen.’’ ‘‘ Botanische Zeitung,’’ 1890. 

(7) E. Zacharias.—‘‘ Ueber das Verhalten d. 
Zellkerns in Wachsenden Zellen.” ‘' Flora,” 
Erganzungsband, 1895. 

(8) F. Rosen.—“ Beitr. z. Kenntniss d. PAanzen- 
zellen.” ‘*Cohn’s Beitr. z. Biol. d. PAanzen,” 
vii., 1895. 

Elmwood, Bickley, Kent; September, 1896. 


In the ‘‘ Irish Naturalist ’’ for November there is 
an interesting article on ‘‘ The Botany of a School 
Playground in the heart of Dublin,” by the Rev. 
Thomas B. Gibson. Although the place seems an 
unlikely one in which to find botanical specimens, 
Mr. Gibson enumerates a number of plants he has 
found in the playground of King’s Hospital, 
amongst others the somewhat uncommon green 
hellebore, H. viridis. He says that the ground has 
no unusual capabilities, nor has any attempt been 
made to assist growth. He has, however, scattered 
some few seeds himself on various occasions, but 
most are self-planted. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


VARIATIONS 


£75 


IN ORCHIS MACULATA. 


By G. H. Bryan, Sc.D., F.R.S. 


Dee the course of an expedition to North 

Wales, I was much struck with the great 
variety, both in the form and in the markings, of 
the labellum of the common orchid, Orchis maculata. 
In the British flora it appears not to be usual to 
distinguish the different forms as varieties, though 


14 


VARIATIONS IN THE LABELLUM OF OrRCHIS MACULATA. 


the difference between extreme types is quite as 
conspicuous as the distinction between O. Jatifolia 
and O. incarnata. In their ‘‘ Flore Frangaise,” 
however, Messrs. Gillet et Magne distinguish the 
following varieties in addition to the typical 
maculata :— 


Flowers small; labellum with three 
nearly equal lobes. 


Middle lobe of the labellum elongated, 
the lateral ones rounded, entire 


var, trilobata 


var, media. 


The accompanying drawings were very carefully 
made on the spot. It will be generally noticed that 
specimens growing in damp, shady places have 
the paler flowers, and have the edges of the lateral 
lobes very crenulated, the middle lobe being in some 
cases almost insignificant. On the other hand, dry 


sunny meadows and hedges seem to conduce to the 
development of forms possessing more regular 
purple markings and having the middle lobe more 
conspicuous, and the lateral ones often with smooth 
edges. There is also a considerable variability in 
the spots on the leaves. A complete classification 
of all the varietal forms occurring in this variable 
plant would form a pleasant task for a summer 
vacation. 
Cambridge; October, 1896. 


176 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


THE BUDER DUCK: 


By ROBERT GODFREY. 


HE eider duck, Somateria mollissima, is a resident 
in the Firth of Forth, occurring in varying 
numbers about the islands and near certain por- 
tions of the shore. During winter this species 
frequents the open sea and is seldom met with 
near the coast line, but as the breeding season 
approaches, the eiders gather at their time-honoured 
haunts along the southern shore of the Firth and 
about the May Island, Bass Rock and other known 
resorts. From St. Abb’s Head to Aberlady they 
occur throughout the summer in parties of from 
one to twelve or more pairs, being most isolated in 
the rocky regions of the Berwickshire coast, and 
most numerous off the low-lying sandy links of East 
Lothian. Above Aberlady they are rarely seen off 
shore, but have been noted in the Firth as far up 
as Cramond Island, though I do not positively 
know if they breed on that island, whilst along the 
portion of the northern shore most intimately 
known to me, between Burntisland and Queens- 
ferry, they are as yet exceedingly rare, a single 
pair in a quiet bay there on May 16th, 1895, being 
the only ones that have come under my own obser- 
vation. In April, the eiders are not numerous in 
any one locality, but as the season advances they 
concentrate to one point, and in early June over 
fifty pairs may be counted together in their chief 
haunt in the Forth area, a haunt which in 1821 
was reported to be a common resort of this species, 
and which still remains their chief home in our 
district. 

Though my night-rambles after the scarcer 
nesting-species have repeatedly led me to the 
eiders’ quarters, yet my first night in their haunts 
comes ever back to memory with increasing vivid- 
ness. I had reached the shore shortly before 
midnight, and kept wondering as I roved along 
what bird might be the producer of the strange 
moaning cry that continually came from the sea; 
but I did not succeed in solving my difficulty till 
morning. By night I paced up and down amongst 
the herbage-covered sand-dunes, and in the dim 
light of morning I found amongst the rough grass 
an eider’s nest with the eggshells broken around it, 
as if by some plundering birds. Shortly afterwards 
I came on a mass of down, betokening another 
harried nest, and near a ridge-top I discovered a 
third with down alone in it. The fourth, empty 
like the others, I obtained in a slight hollow. At 
length I saw two female eiders flying low in my 
direction, and in the vain hope of being unnoticed 
by them I lay down, but was not gratified in 
seeing them alight. Huge and heavy as they 
appeared on the wing, they flew easily enough 


along and made a second circuit round me, uttering 
a low cry at the same time, before they passed out 
of sight. Still I plodded on, and about four o'clock 
disturbed a sitting bird; with difficulty she seemed 
to get on the wing, and with heavy loud flapping 
she made seawards, keeping close to the ground as 
she flew. The nest, containing four eggs, was 
placed at the junction of a grassy and a sandy 
portion, and was composed of dry jgrass with a 
scanty supply of down. On the discovery of this 
nest I ceased my searching, and, approaching the 
edge of the sand-dune bordering the shore, I peered 
over and gazed on a sight truly splendid. Eiders, 
and eiders alone, were stationed on the low rocks 
in the foreground, and on discovering my presence 
they rose with a terrific clapping of wings, and soon 
again alighted on the water with heavy splashing. 
The same moaning that had claimed my attention 
by night was still proceeding from the large flock 
of birds and was accompanied by curious evolu- 
tions of the head. Both sexes were thus gesticulat- 
ing, tossing up their heads with the tip of the 
bill pointing upwards, or occasionally downwards, 
and the drakes sometimes raised their breasts right 
out of the water. The moan resembled ‘‘ ah-woe-o, 
a-woo,”’ and another note ‘‘ whee-whee-whee”’ was 
also frequently uttered. Further along, another 
eider rose heavily in front of me, and in silence 
made for the sea. This nest also contained four 
eggs and was well-lined with down, whilst a 
peculiar disagreeable smell, noticed in the previous 
instance as well, emanated from it. The eider’s 
nest—despite the size of the contained eggs—is 
not a conspicuous object in these rough grass-clad 
links, as it is made to fit compactly into the place 
chosen ; it is usually discovered by the birds rising 
at our feet. 

The nest, in the Forth area, is generally near the 
sea, placed usually in some inequality of the wild 
herbage and tangled plants, or more rarely situated 
on a comparatively bare dune-face. In one 
instance an eider formed her nest on a heap of grass 
which had been cut and piled the previous season, 
and in another she had formed it in a crevice 
amongst bare jagged rocks. In some cases a 
hollow is formed in the ground beforehand; often, 
however, no prior preparation is made, and the 
large nest of grass and moss is rendered firm by 
the weight of the bird. The quantity of nesting 
material varies greatly in different instances, being 
sometimes almost entirely absent, as where a 
convenient depression has been chosen by the bird, 
and at other times of much grass and other plant 
stems from the adjoining ground. In the nest 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


amongst rocks referred to above, the foundation 
consisted of small fragments of plantain and sea- 
pink, upon which lay a great mass of down; it 
measured fourteen inches in one diameter and nine 
in another. 

The usual clutch is four; I have found a nest 
with seven, and one with two, in which incubation 
had begun. In the nest with seven the arrange- 
ment was peculiar, for, whilst five were placed 
round a central sixth, the seventh lay above them, 
forming a second layer. The eggs are dark greyish 
green, the green being more or less pronounced, 
and are often marked with dark, greasy-looking 
blotches. In some eggs the arrangement jof the 
different shades gives the appearance of a much 
broken and torn layer of dark green, displaying the 
lighter green through its gaps. 

The down is added to the nest after the eggs are 
laid and is often so closely intermingled with the 
material of the nest as to make separation difficult. 
The flakes are large, with white centres and uni- 
formly grey tips, and, in mass, the down is very 
elastic. Except when the clutch consists finally 
of less than four, little down appears in the nest 
till that number is laid. The duck sits closely, and 
when disturbed flies off in silence to the nearest 
water, or sometimes settles at a distance and stands 
on the grassy slope watching the disturber. When 
she flies direct to the sea her subsequent actions 
can seldom be followed, as there is generally an 
intervening brow. Once I roused a duck from her 
nest, containing an incomplete clutch of three, on 
the grassy slope rising from the shore, and saw her 
settle on the sea, when a drake immediately rose 
and flew to her side. The duck rested with her 
head on her shoulders in normal position, then 
performed the gesticulation peculiar to the nesting 
season, raising her head upward and forward and 
quickly retracting it again. 

Many nests are robbed by vermin, but far more 
are taken by man, so that the continued abundance 
under such conditions is remarkable. On June 6th, 
1895, I was examining a small rocky island, which 
rises sufficiently high above the water to be clad 
with patches of grass over its irregular surface, 
and, having explored the seaward half without any 
interruption from breeding-birds, I was returning 
along the landward border, when I noticed an eider 
appear from the side of a dirty pool and stand 
amongst the white bladder-campion plants and 
purple seapink. She walked a few steps and 
called in a low tone ‘“ krok-ok-ok-ok,” whilst I 
halted in amazement, unable to understand her 
action. Presently I detected two young birds 
following her, and, giving chase, I caught one of 
them. The eider ran, and then flew to the sea. 
I discovered other three youngsters skulking by 
the side of the pool, making five in all, and as they 
were at a safe distance from the water I could have 


177 


taken them all if I had wished. I kept one of them 
and set the others in motion. The duck flew up 
the island towards me and her young, and stood 
calling to them from a rock till she had successfully 
led off two of them. She swam away with them, 
calling the while, and ere she had gone far she was 
joined by the drake. The concern of the drake for 
the duck when her eggs or her young are in danger, 
as observed on this and on other occasions, leads 
me to think that they pair for life. After the 
nesting season the flocks disperse and retreat from 
our shores, and leave the shore-wanderer almost 
a stranger to their winter habits. Yet they do not 
entirely forsake us, and when seen afford us an 
opportunity of filling up details, which in summer 
we either failed to describe, or could not, because 
of the numbers of the birds. On December 25th, 
1893, I found four birds, apparently a family party, 
at the base of Fast Castle. The party consisted of 
two drakes, one adult and one immature, and two 
ducks, whose age could not be determined, and 
they displayed no anxiety as they swam and dived 
near the land. They sat deeply on the water, and 
the waves rolling past them were broken in small 
patches of white foam by their disturbing presence. 
They did not rise from the water to dive, but simply 
curved their necks deliberately and opened their 
wings as they entered the sea. On every occasion 
the adult drake was the last to enter, and it was 
easy to follow his course from his brightness of 
plumage, as with outstretched neck he flew quickly 
down in a slanting direction through the water. 
They remained on an average thirty to thirty-four 
seconds beneath the surface, and after reappearing 
they often touched the water with the point of 
their bills, as if sipping. The three less con- 
spicuous members of the group often rose on 
the water to shake their wings or beat the sur- 
face to splash the water over them, and ducked 
their heads as they thus cleaned themselves. After 
a while they swam in company slowly away from 
land. 

A gamekeeper to the east of Gullane has made 
several attempts to rear young eider ducks by feed- 
ing them on eggs, custard and Spratt’s meal, and 
would probably have succeeded in keeping them in 
perfect health had he had the necessary conditions. 
Seeing, however, that he has them in an enclosure, 
without sufficient sea water, he suffers from an 
inconvenience which has made itself felt in the 
weakness of the birds’ legs, and also in gatherings 
about the eyes. On January 23rd, 1894, I saw two 
of his birds, which he had reared from the preceding 
season, one of which was in perfect health and 
plumage, whilst the other had lost all use of its 
legs. He wasjustly proud of his hand-reared birds, 
as he showed them to me, and I too was delighted 
with them. 

46, Cumberland Street, Edinburgh; October, 1896. 


H 3 


178 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ARMATURE OF HELICOID LANDSHELLS. 


By G. K. Gube, F.Z.S. 
(Continued from page 156.) 


LECTOPYLIS fonsonbyi (figs. 22a-e), from 
Hlindet, Burma, was described by Lieut.- 
Colonel Godwin-Austen in the ‘* Proceedings of the 
Zoological Society’ for 1888, p, 243. My draw- 
ing has been prepared from the specimen figured 
by Mr. Pilsbry in ‘‘ Manual of Conchology,” ix. 
(1894), t. 40, figs. 9-12. The shell is sinistral, 
disk-shaped, flattened above, with the apex a little 
raised, composed of six and a-half whorls, closely 
and regularly coiled, rounded and gradually in- 
creasing ; it is regularly and finely ribbed, and has 
the last whorl! deflexed in front; the parietal callus 
has a raised flexuous ridge, which is separate above 
and below from the peristome. From the aperture 
may be discerned a short, free, slightly curved, 
parietal fold, which follows the deflexion of the 
last whorl (see fig. 222). The parietal armature 


Fig. 22.—Plectopylis ponsonbyt. 


further consists of two strong vertical plates, the 
posterior one of whichis the longer of the two; 
it gives off posteriorly at the upper extremity a 
very short horizontal ridge, and at the lower 
extremity another short, but stronger, ridge, which 
descends obliquely; the anterior plate is shorter 
but much stronger and thicker than the posterior 
one, and it gives off two strong ridges, one from 
the upper and one from the lower extremity, 
gradually decreasing in height. Below these two 
vertical plates there is a very thin horizontal fold 
terminating posteriorly a little beyond the posterior 
vertical plate, and anteriorly becoming attenuated 
till it is scarcely visible at the parietal ridge, to 
which, however, it is united. In the figure referred 
to, I regret to find this horizontal fold is wrongly 
shown as terminating a little beyond the anterior 
vertical plate. The palatal armature consists 


of: first, a thin horizontal plate, parallel with and 
near to the suture, a little broader in the middle; 
secondly, a somewhat stouter plate, slanting a little 
downwards posteriorly, also a little broader in the 
middle, and decreasing abruptly anteriorly, but 
very slowly posteriorly, where it is slightly 
indented ; thirdly, a similar plate, slanting a little 
more posteriorly, with a slight indentation; 
fourthly, a stout bilobed vertical plate giving off 
anteriorly at the upper extremity a very slight 
ridge and posteriorly from the base of each lobe a 
short ridge; fifthly, a horizontal fold parallel with 
and near to the lower suture, raised in the middle, 
with the apical portion reflexed and angular; it 
has a very small tooth on the posterior side. 
Another very small tooth is situate a little below 
the first horizontal plate about its middle, shown 
erroneously in fig. 22d in a line with it. Fig. 226 
shows the whole armature from the side of the 
aperture, fig. 22¢ the same from behind, and fig. 
22d the inside of the outer wall with the palatal 
folds (all magnified); while fig. 22e¢ shows the shell 
restored, from above, natural size. The type 
specimen measures 18 millimetres in diameter, and 
is in Mr. Ponsonby’s collection. 

Plectopylis fultoni (figs 234 and b) was described 
by Lieut.-Colonel Godwin-Austen in ‘ Annals and 
Magazine of Natural History” (6), x. (1892), p. 
300, where the habitat of Khasi Hills, India, is 
doubtfully given, but the exact locality is unknown. 
The species was subsequently figured in Mr. 
Fulton’s advertisements in ‘“‘ Nature’’ and ‘‘ The 
Nautilus,” and these figures were incorporated by 
Mr. Pilsbry in his ‘‘ Manual of Conchology”’ (vol. 
ix., t. 40, ff. 13-15). As, however, the armature 
has not hitherto been figured, I am pleased to 
have an opportunity of doing so. The shell 
is sinistral, subglobosely disk-shaped, widely 
umbilicated, of a pale ochreous colour, regularly 
ribbed and decussated by a fine spiral sculpture; it 
is composed of seven or seven and a-half whorls, 
very slowly increasing in width, the last of which 


descends in front ; the body whorl bears four rows ~ 


of coarse hairs revolving horizontally over its 
whole length, the first on the keel, the second a 
little below the first, the third midway between the 
second and fourth, the latter being near the 
umbilical angulation. The peristome is reflexed 
and thickened ; the parietal callus is only slightly 
thickened, its margin, however, is distinctly 
separated from the peristome above and below; 
the aperture is devoid of armature. The shell 
measures 18 to 20 millimetres in diameter. The 


ae ie Ae ~ eee Oe 8) 


jig 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 179 


parietal armature consists of a single strong 
vertical plate (see fig. 23q). Lieut.-Colonel 
Godwin-Austen, in describing the armature (loc. 
cit.), states that the parietal plate has only a slight 
horizontal support above on the posterior side ; 
in the two specimens in my possession, however, 
this plate has a similar support below; these 
supports consist of a tooth united to the vertical 
plate by a slight callosity. Below this is a short 


Fig. 23.—Plectopylis fultom. 


thin horizontal plate, a little indented in the 
middle. 
consists of: first, a short horizontal fold, close to 
and parallel with the suture; secondly, a longer 
and stouter horizontal flexuous fold; thirdly, 
another horizontal fold, slightly indented in the 
middle and deflexed posteriorly at an obtuse angle; 
fourthly and fifthly, two series each of two short 
horizontal folds, the anterior ones slightly oblique, 
with their lower ends towards the aperture, and the 
posterior ones deflexed at an obtuse angle posteriorly; 
and sixthly, near the base, a short slightly bent 
fold, with the convex side turned towards the 
lower suture. The specimen figured, which is 
not quite mature, bears a second vertical plate on 
the parietal wall (see fig. 23a), which appears to be 
the remnant of the immature barriers formed before 
the completion of the shell, for, as will be seen later 
on, in this genus, as in Corilla (see ante p. go), the 
armature is not confined to full-grown shells, but 
occurs at various periods of their existence, the 
earlier sets of plates and folds being absorbed after 
the formation of the next set. A young specimen 
in my collection, composed of five whorls, possesses 
the armature a little beyond the place where four 
and a-half whorls have been completed; the 
barriers are almost identical with the mature ones, 
except that the folds are smaller and the second 


and third palatal folds are deeply bilobed. A still . 


younger specimen of only four whorls has the 
armature near the place where three and a-hal 
whorls have been completed. Plectopylis fultoni is 
allied on the one hand to P. andersoni (see ante p. 
154, fig. 17), the parietal armature being almost 
identical, while the arrangement and structure of 
the palatal folds connect it on the other hand with 
P. plectostoma, to be considered in a subsequent 
paper. 

The species of Plectopylis hitherto dealt with 
belong to a group forming a section of the 


The palatal armature (see fig. 230) - 


genus, the members of which, with perhaps one 
exception, do not occur north of the Himalayan 
range, but are confined to the vast tract to the 
south of it, comprising India, Burma, and Farther 
India. Before dealing with the remaining members 
of this section, exigencies of illustration compel 
me to consider the Chinese members of the genus, 
which constitute another section characterized by 
a glossy, more or less transparent shell and a 
somewhat less complicated armature. All the 
known species are dextral. 

Plectopylis fimbriosa (figs. 24a and b), was described 
and figured by Dr. E. von Martens, in the ‘‘ Jahrbuch 
der Deutschen Malakazoologischen Gesellschaft,”’ 
ii. (1875), p. 128, t. 3, f. 6, from specimens col- 
lected in the Province of Kiang-si of China: it 
has subsequently been found in the Province of 
Hou-Nan. Dr. O. F. von Mollendorff, in figuring 
the armature of this species (op. cit. x. (1883), t. 12, 
f. 11), has given only the anterior aspect of the 
plates and folds, while my figure (fig. 24a) shows 
the posterior view. The shell is disk-shaped, with 
the spire a little elevated, subpellucid, corneous, 
composed of six whorls slowly increasing ; strongly 
and regularly ribbed above, with a strong spiral 
sculpture, smoother and shining below, with a 
yellowish band round the wide open umbilicus; 
angulated on the periphery, which is provided with 
a fringe of coarse lacinia; the white peristome is 
strongly reflexed, and a little thickened, and the 
parietal wall is without acallus; the shell measures 
15 millimetres in diameter. The parietal armature 
consists of a strong, simple, vertical, lunate plate, 
the convex side of which is turned towards the 
aperture, and the lower extremity is somewhat 
strongly deflexed posteriorly ; on the anterior side 
are found two short horizontal teeth, one above 
and one below, in a line with the extremities of the 
vertical plate, the upper one being the stronger 
of the two (see fig 24b). The palatal armature 


Fig. 24.—Plectopylis fimbriosa. 


consists of six short, simple, horizontal folds, the 
first near to and parallel with the suture, the 
second longer and stouter, nearly opposite the 
upper extremity of the parietal plate; the third, 
fourth, fifth and sixth all parallel, equidistant, and 
gradually decreasing in length downwards; a small 
tooth occurs a little above and posteriorly to the 
sixth fold; these folds are visible externally 
through the shell wall. The three specimens in 
my collection are from Kioo-Kiang, Province of 
Kiang-Si, and are all identical in armature. One 


H 4 


180 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


specimen is of special interest from possessing, in 
addition to the mature plates, the remains, partly 
absorbed, of the previous set, consisting of the 
basal portion of the parietal plate, the whole of the 
first palatal fold, parts of the second and fourth, 
and the whole of the fifth and sixth, with the 
adjacent tooth. Here we have, therefore, absolute 
proof of the absorption of the earlier armature as 
suggested in the case of Corilla. 

The Rev. Vincenz Gredler described a variety of 
this species under the name of P. fimbriosa var.azona 
(Jahrb. Deutsch. Malak. Gesells, xiv. (1887), p. 369), 
which, subsequently, he raised to specific rank 
(‘‘ Nachrichtsblatt der Deutschen Malakazoolo- 
gischen Gessellschaft,”’ xxi. (1889), p.155). In order 
to ascertain whether any difference in the armature 
could be detected, I have opened the single speci- 
men in my collection (from Patong, West China), 
but with the exception of the tooth near the sixth 
palatal fold being absent and the palatal folds 
generally being a little shorter, it is identical, and I 
am, therefore, of opinion that this form must be 
regarded as a variety, as originally suggested by 
Mr. Gredler. It is smaller than the type, measur- 
ing only 12 millimetres in diameter, a little 
darker and less shining, and it is devoid of the 
yellowish zone round the umbilicus, so that the 
varietal name suggested is very appropriate. Dr. 
von Méllendorff has named a variety nana, which 
differs from the type in having the last whorl with 
a more acute peripherial angle and in being much 
smaller, the measurement given being 6 milli- 
metres. I do not know this variety, and have, there- 
fore, had no opportunity of studying its armature. 

Plectopylis pulvinaris (fig. 25) was described by 
Dr. A.A. Gould in the ‘‘ Proceedings of the Boston 
Society of Natural History,” vi. (1859), p. 424, 
from specimens collected in Hong Kong and in 


Fig. 25.—Plectopylis pulvinaris. 


China, near Canton. It was also collected in 
Hong Kong by Dr. von Martens, who figured the 
species in ‘‘ Die Preussische Expedition nach Ost- 
Asien,” Zoologischer Theil, ii. (1867), t. 14, f. 9, 
and this figure has been copied by Mr. G. W. 
Tryon in his ‘‘Manual of Conchology”’ (2), iii. 
(1887), t. 33, ff. 29-31. It was likewise figured 
by Dr. von Méllendorff in the ‘Jahrbuch der 
Deutschen Malakazoologischen Gesellschaft,’ x. 
(1883), t. 12, f. 9, and by Dr. W. Kobelt in Martini 
und Chemnitz’ ‘‘ Conchylien Cabinet,” ii. (1894), t. 
205, ff. 12-14. The shell is disk-shaped, widely per- 
spectively umbilicated,f{pale?corneous brown, com- 
posed of six closely ‘regularly coiled whorls, finely 
striated above with very minute spiral sculpture 
scarcely visible under a strong lens; the spire is 


almost flattened, with the apex a little raised; the 
last whorl widens toward the aperture and is 
a little deflexed in front. The armature consists 
of a strong lunate vertical plate on the parietal 
wall, strongly deflexed posteriorly, the convex side 
towards the aperture, with two short horizontal 
teeth on the anterior side, one above and one 
below, in a line with the two extremities, the 
upper being the stronger of the two. The 
palatal wall bears seven horizontal folds; the 
first thin, near to and parallel with the suture, 
the second, third, fourth, and fifth, larger 
and stronger than the first, almost parallel 
to each other, equidistant and descending a little 
obliquely posteriorly; the sixth smaller and 
parallel with the lower suture. There are in 
addition, behind the principal folds, two small 
teeth, one in a line with the fifth fold and more or 
less connected with it, the other midway between 
the fifth and sixth folds. The second fold is a 
little indented posteriorly so that a separate 
denticle is almost formed. The specimen figured 
is from Hong Kong, and measures 16 millimetres 
in diameter. A specimen in Mr. Ponsonby’s 
collection is larger, measuring 22 millimetres 
in diameter; the shell is darker, thicker, rugosely 
striated, and the spiral sculpture is more 
decided; the whorls are more tumid and the 
peristome is much more reflexed and thickened, 
while the margins are connected by a whitish 
callus which bears a slight denticle. This 
specimen probably belongs to P. pulvinaris var. 
continentalis, described by Dr. von Mollendorff 
(Jahrb. Deutsch. Malak. Gesells. xii. (1885), p. 
388), from Canton. The shell figured by Dr. 
Kobelt (op. cit.) bears a similar denticle on the 
parietal wall. Mr. H. Fulton has obligingly sent 
me for examination, ten specimens of this species, 
the smallest of which measures 16 millimetres, 
and the largest 20 millimetres in diameter; of 
these, five, including the smallest and the largest, 
possess the denticle on the parietal callus, and two 
more have a rudimentary denticle. 

Plectopylis cutisculpta (figs. 26a-c), from Fud-Shien, 
was described by Dr. von Mollendorff, in the 
“Jahrbuch der Deutschen Malakazoologischen 
Gesellschaft,” ix. (1882), p. 184, and figured by 
him in the same work, x. (1883), t.12,f.12. The 
shell is disk-shaped, with the spire a little raised 
and composed of six or seven slowly increasing 
whorls, finely ribbed above, smooth and shining 
below; the last whorl scarcely descends in front, 
the umbilicus is wide and open, and the peristome 
is a little reflected, the specimen figured measures 
7 millimetres in diameter. The parietal armature 
consists of a strong vertical plate, a little convex 
towards the aperture, with a slight angular callosity 
anteriorly at the lower extremity, and with a little 
ridge above and below posteriorly ; on the posterior 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


side are, besides, two minute folds, one horizontal 
near the upper extremity, the other vertical near 
the lower extremity, the latter being the larger of 


. Fig. 26.—Plectopylis cutisculpta. 


the two (figs. 26a and 0). The palatal armature 
consists of six folds more or less horizontal, the first 
short and thin, near the suture, the second a little 
larger, bilobed; the third, fourth, and fifth longer, 
broader, obliquely descending posteriorly, and 
each giving off a minute denticle; the sixth very 
short as seen in fig. 26c. (The first fold has 


accidently been omitted in this figure.) The 
specimen is in Mr. Ponsonby’s collection. 
Plectopylis multispiva (figs. 27a-d), from the 


Province of Hou-Nan, was described by Dr. von 
Mollendorff in the ‘‘ Nachrichtsblatt der Deutschen 
Malakazoologischen Gesellschaft,” xv. (1883), p. 
ror, and figured by him in the ‘ Jahrbuch Deutsch. 
Malak. Gesells. x. (1883), t. 12,f. 10, The shell 
is thin, subpellucid, yellowish corneous, shining 
above and below, widely umbilicated, composed of 
seven closely and regularly coiled whorls, gradually 
and slowly increasing, finely striated, the last 
whorl being wider and shortly deflected in 
front. It measures from 8 to 11 millimetres in 
diameter. The parietal armature is composed 


SS 
NS 
mT iN ~ 
' \ 


Fig. 27.—Plectopylis multispira. 


of a strong lunate plate which descends obliquely 
posteriorly, the convex side being towards the 
aperture (fig. 27a); on the anterior side are found : 
first, a short horizontal fold in a line with the 
upper extremity of the vertical plate; below this, 
almost in a line, are five minute denticles, the 
second and third of which are united so as to form 


I8I 


a double one, while the fifth is a little elongated and 
slants obliquely downwards (see figs. 27) and c). 
The palatal armature (figs. 27a, b, and d) is composed 
of six more or less horizontal folds: the first very 
short and thin, near the suture; the second, third, 
fourth, and fifth stronger and broader, equidistant and 
parallel, obliquely slanting downwards, and slightly 
indented posteriorly; the sixth a little narrower, 
near the lower suture ; between the fifth and sixth 
folds, a little beyond their posterior extremities, is 
found a little elongated denticle. Fig. 27a shows 
the whole armature from the posterior side, fig. 275 
from the anterior side, while fig. 27d shows the 
inner side of the outer wall with its folds. The 
specimen figured is in my collection, and measures 
ro millimetres in diameter. 

Plectopylis invia (figs. 28a and 6) was described 
and figured by the Rev. P. Heude, in Part 2 of his 
‘‘Notes sur les Mollusques Terrestres de la Vallée du 
Fleuve Bleu,’’ published in the ‘‘Memoires con- 
cernant |’Histoire Naturelle de l’Empire Chinois ”’ 
(1885), p. 111, t. 30, f. 4, from specimens collected 


Fig. 28.—Plectopylis invia. 


in Tchen-Keou. The shell somewhat resembles 
P. multispiva in outline and texture, but it is 
more strongly ribbed and less transparent; it is 
composed of only six whorls and it measures only 
8 millimetres in diameter; the umbilicus is very 
deep. The parietal callus forms a raised ridge, not 
continuous with the margins of the peristome, and 
giving off a little above the middle a short entering 
fold. The parietal armature (see fig. 28a) further 
consists of a slightly curved vertical plate, giving 
off anteriorly at the upper extremity a very slight 
horizontal support. The specimen here figured 
has, in addition, a second smaller vertical fold 
posteriorly to the principal one, but whether this 
is a normal condition I am unable to say, having 
only a single specimen to examine. The principal 
vertical plate has also posteriorly a slight support 
at the lower extremity. The palatal armature 
consists of five folds, the first, facing the upper 
extremity of the parietal fold, thin and longer than 
the others, attenuated anteriorly and nearly 
horizontal; the second, third, and fourth are short 
and broad, very oblique, almost vertical, and con- 
nected by a slight attenuated callous ridge, which 
is continued below the fourth fold; the fifth is 
thin, horizontal, and situate near the lower suture 
(see fig. 28b). The specimen which I have been 
allowed to open is in Mr. Ponsonby’s collection ; 
it measures 6°5 millimetres in diameter. 


(To be continued.) 


182 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


THE RISE OF PALZONTOLOGY. 


By ArTHUR J. MasLen. 


(Continued from paze 154.) 


Rt Linnzus, the great Swedish naturalist, the 

study of fossils owes but little. We have 
already pointed out that his ideas respecting the 
origin of fossils were in no way in advance of his 
times. His great work as a botanist we all know ; 
his importance in this history, and indeed to 
Biology in general, lies in the fact that it is to him 
we owe the modern method of naming organisms 
by the use of two words, generic and specific. 
Previous to this the naming of organisms had been 
subject to no fixed and universally recognised rules, 
and a cumbersome system of long descriptive 
names had grown up. With the introduction of 
the binomial system of nomenclature by Linnzus 
an orderly system of naming has been instituted, 
and so important is this method regarded by 
modem naturalists that no pre-Linnean names are 
admitted or can be quoted as evidence of priority. 
As a consequence of this rule, a large amount of 
literature written before that time, useful as it may 
be in itself, is regarded as of antiquarian interest 
only, while a siill larger amount of work between 
1766 and 1820 has to share the same fate because 
the authors did not adopt the binomial system. 
Indeed, the whole subject of nomenclature and 
priority has becomea very thorny one, and perhaps 
no subject at the present time gives rise to more 
animated discussion or ingenious argument than 
one on the rules of nomenclature. When a man 
has become accustomed to ceriain well-known 
Mames of organisms which he has used un- 
questioned for years, he not unnaturally magnifies 
the evil of changing these names for others known 
to nobody, excepting perhaps the individual who, 
hunting in some old and perhaps forgotten book, 
discovers some older names and henceforth trots 
out the principle of priority as a court from which 
there can be no appeal. So we see the necessity 
for adopting some fixed date beyond which rules of 
priority do not extend, and the date of publication 
of the “Systema Nature” of Linnzus has been 
universally accepted. Hereagaina difficulty arises, 
A committee of the British Association long ago 
adopted a set of rules known as the Strick- 
landian Code, in which the twelfth edition of 
«Systema Nature,” published in 1766, is taken as 
the starting point, while the seventh of the rules 
drawn up by the German Zoological Society adopts 
the tenth edition (1758), and they point out that 
this edition contains all that is really esseniial. 
However this may be, the introduction of the 
binomial system of nomenclature distinctly limits 
what we may call modern Biology, although at the 


present time it seems more and more in danger of 
becoming trinomial or even quadrinomial, owing to 
the continual splitting up of old genera, and the 
formation of ever-increasing varieties in species. 
In this way the good old genus Ammonites is divided 
by Zittel (}) into more than a hundred new genera, 
the old generic name being retained and put in 
parenthesis, thus: Cosmoceras (Ammonites) jason. 

The immense collection of type specimens formed 
by Linnzus, so important in fixing the exact limits 
of a genus or species, was bought and brought over 
to this country by Sir J. Smith, not, however, 
without the hostility—justifiable, one would think— 
of the Swedish Government, who sent a warship in 
chase! However, thespecimens were not captured, 
the Linnean Society was formed, and the original 
type specimens found a safe resting-place. 

Among the valuable works of pre-Linnean daie, 
and which, of course, really belong to the previous 
period, we may mention that by Plot on the 
“Natural History of Oxfordshire ” (1677) and that 
on Northamptonshire, by Morton (1705), both 
important works describing many fossils, while 
later (1752) ‘‘Da Costa published proposals for 
printing, by subscription, ‘A Natural History of 
Fossils," but the assistance was far from suppori- 
ing the expense.”*(?) The work was issued, however, 
in 1757- The first book on British geology which 
can be quoted is one on “‘Hampshire Fossils,” by 
Gustavus Brander, F.R.S_, in which is described and 
figured the fossils of the very fossiliferous Barton 
clay. The description of species in this work, 
which was published in 1766, was given by Dr. 
Solander, an officer at the British Museum, who 
fortunately knew of the work of Linnzus, and they 
were thus enabled to adopt Linnean names. 

We now come to two names which stand pre- 
eminent among the founders of modern palzon- 
tology—Cuvier and Lamargk, the founders of 
vertebrate and invertebrate palzontology respec- 
tively. George Cuvier, born at Montbeliard, near 
Besancon, in 1769, and educated at Stuttgart, early 
showed unmistakable signs of his natural history 
tastes. He was introduced to the leaders of light 
and learning in Paris by the Abbé Tessier, where, 
working with two of his great contemporaries, 
Geoffrey St. Hilaire and Chevalier de Lamarck, his 
masterly exposition of the great facts of comparative 
anatomy soon gained him many friends. During 
this time he was issuing many separate anatomical 
papers and memoirs, and was gradually laying that 

() “Grondzuge der Palzontologie.” 

(2) H. B. Woodward, “ Proc. Geol. Assorc.,” vol. xiii., p. 268. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


solid foundation of comparative anatomical know- 
ledge which was afterwards to be of so much use 
to him in his studies among the fossil vertebrates. 
For are not these studies essentially the comparative 
anatomy of animals, which differ from those with 
which the anatomist (or osteologist) ordinarily 
deals, in that, as Huxley has put it, they have been 
dead longer ? 

Excavations in the famous Montmatre beds of 
the Paris basin, so long quarried for the sake of 
the gypsum used in the manufacture of plaster-of- 
Paris, had furnished a large number of mammalian 
bones, while others were obtained from the well- 
known limestone, the calcaive grossiey, which in its 
highest part supplies much of the excellent building- 
stone of Paris. After working assiduously at these 
remains for some time Cuvier published his first 
great work, ‘‘Recherches sur les Ossements 
Fossiles,”’ the first edition of which appeared in 
1812. This work, completed in 1822, is the record 
of the first adequate investigation of the fossil 
remains of any large group of vertebrates ; work to 
be so ably followed up in this country by Richard 
Owen (a pupil of Cuvier’s, and second only in this 
field), by Agassiz in Switzerland, and by Hermann 
von Meyer in Germany. 

We all know something of the methods adopted 
by Cuvier, how his knowledge of comparative 
anatomy and osteology enabled him to build 
up his forms from a few scattered bones, 
taking as his guide the great principle of ‘‘ correla- 
tion of growth.”” This he was able to do simply 
because he knew that, at least so far as living 
organisms are concerned, a certain type of bone or 
tooth is always found in association with other 
correlated structures. Was not this, however, 
exactly the method adopted by Nicholas Steno, the 
Florentine professor, whose work we have already 
noticed? How was it that he was able to say 
that the famous glossopetre were sharks’ teeth ? 
Does he not reason that since glossopetre are 
similar to modern sharks’ teeth they must have 
belonged to shark-like animals, with their other 
correlated peculiarities of structure? Does henot, 
in reality, build up the fish from its tooth? Most 
assuredly he adopts the method with which Cuvier 
is generally credited as the founder. The late 
Professor Huxley says in his admirable essay on 
‘The Progress of Palzontology,” ‘If you will 
turn to the ‘ Recherches sur les Ossements Fossiles’ 
and watch Cuvier, not speculating, but working, 
you will find that his method is neither more nor 
less than that of Steno. If he was able to make 
his famous prophecy from the jaw which lay upon 
the surface of a block of stone to the pelvis of 
the same animal which lay hidden in it, it 
was not because either he or anyone else knew, 
or knows, why a certain form of jaw is, as a rule, 
constantly accompanied by the presence of marsu- 


183 


pial bones, but simply because experience has shown 
that these two structures are co-ordinated." (°) 
However this may be, Cuvier’s work was of the very 
greatest importance ; not only did he bring to light 
a great number of new and extinct mammals, but 
some of the Montmatre fossils are of extreme 
interest as affording some of the best examples of 
what are now called ‘‘synthetic types.”’ As an 
example we may take the two genera of extinct 
hoofed animals named Anaplotherium and Palgothe- 
rium, the former of which unites in one organism 
characters some of which are now found only in 
the pigs, while others are peculiar to the rumi- 
nants ; while Palgothevium unites the characters now 
found in such apparently diverse animals as the 
tapir, the horse and the rhinoceros. The later 
progress of palzeontology has resulted in the recog- 
nition of a large number of such ‘‘ synthetic types.”’ 

Cuvier soon found followers, both in this country 
and abroad, and in the front rank must be placed 
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz and Richard Owen. 
Agassiz was born at Motier, in Switzerland, in 
1807, and after passing through the universities 
of Heidelberg and Munich, and taking several 
degrees, attended Cuvier’s lectures in Paris in 
1831, and rapidly imbibed not only the enthusiasm, 
but also the teleological and anti-evolutionary 
opinions of his master. Indeed, the keynote of 
the entire period we are now considering, the 
atmosphere of thought which distinguishes it from 
the present one, is the belief that there were 
breaks in the history of creation, breaks brought 
about by catastrophes, during which the whole of 
the animals and plants perished, to be replaced 
later by an entirely new creation. Agassiz stands 
out as the greatest ichthyologist of the century, 
and his chief work, ‘‘ Recherches sur les Poissons 
Fossiles,”’ is a monument of patient labour, con- 
sisting as it does of five volumes, with 311 plates, 
describing 20,000 specimens of fossil fish belonging 
to 1,700 species contained in all the chief museums 
in Europe. 

The late Sir Richard Owen, a man second only 
to Cuvier in the field of comparative anatomy, was 
born in Lancaster ninety-one years ago, and 
became a student at Edinburgh, and after receiving 
a medical education in London, was, in 1836, 
appointed Professor of Anatomy and Physiology at 
the College of Surgeons. In 1856 he became chief 
of the Natural History Department of the British 
Museum, where the paleontological galleries form 
a lasting monument to his memory. Owen became 
Cuvier's direct successor, and as Mr. Smith Wood- 
ward reminds us, ‘extending and elaborating 
comparative anatomy as understood by Cuvier, 
Owen concentrated his efforts on utilising the results 
for the interpretation of the fossil remains—even 
isolated bones and teeth—of extinct animals. He 


(3) Collected Essays,” vol. iv., p. 33- 


184 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


never hesitated to deal with the most fragmentary 
evidence, having complete faith in the principles 
established by Cuvier; and it is particularly inte- 
resting in the light of present knowledge to study 
the long series of successes and failures that 
characterise his work.” (*) In iruth, he carried 
Cuvier’s principles too far in some respects, for, 
although his methods are fairly safe when dealing 
with animals closely related to others now living, 
they are altogether unsafe when dealing with more 
remote types. Owen's work among the fossil verie- 
brates has been exceedingly varied, and nearly all 
the groups have come under his care, not the least 
important being his work on that remarkable bird, 
the Archeopieryx, of the Bavarian lithographicstone, 
while the fragmentary thigh-bone of Dinornis, 
brought to him in 1839, enabled him to demon- 
Strate. that gigantic flightless birds had once 
existed in New Zealand. His work among the 
invertebrates was perhaps of nearly equal value, 
especially his researches among the Cephalo- 
poda and Brachiopoda. Anti-evolutionist as 
were his opimions, he writes m 1866: ‘ The 
progress of palzoniology since 1830 has brought 
to light many missing links unknown to ihe 
founder of the science. My own share in the 
labour led me, after a few years of research, to 
discern what I believed, and still hold to be, a 
tendency to a more generalised or less speciali 
organization as species recede in date of existence 
from the present time.” (®) In fact, although he 
distinctly saw evidence for evolution among the 
Many types that he studied, his statements were 
always tentative and guarded on those great 
questions of progressive development and evolu- 
tion, which were to become the guiding principle 
of the generation of naturalists that followed him. 


(To be continued.) 


PH@NOLOGY IN IRELAND. 
By Joun H. Barzour. 


HE following notes made during this year, 
though brief and scattered, may, while 
swelling the already voluminous material from 
which those who are working up a special branch 
of natural science, contain some fact useful in 
proving an argument or theory. Most of these 
cases were observed in my own disirict or 
county, having been seen either by myself or by 
someone known by me. Im second week of 
January, primroses were picked on Carnalea golf 
links, and I myself found them near Bangor. In 
fourth week of January, a blackbird’s nest with 


€) Sir Richard Owen's “ Researches om the Vertebrata,” 
ee ee vol. ii, p. 130. 


“ Agnes Crane,” “ Nat. Science,” vol. ii, p. 30. 


four eggs was seen. February 2nd, Veronica 
chamacdrys and Tussilaga farfara seen im flower; 
Arum maculatum im fall leaf. February 13th, 
Piccotees in flower; flowering currant with leaves 
partially ont; also Cratzgus in leaf. February 
zand, Ranunculus ficaria in flower; Viola tricolor 
(var. arvensis) in flower, and it was stated io have 
been seen in flower even a fortnight earlier. 
February 27th, Digiialis purpurea, leaves fully 
expanded, near Belfast. March isi, Frog’s spawn 
seen. March 16th, Agr fseudoplaianus, Fagus 
syloaticus, and Rihizs in full bud; Sambucus nigra in 
leaf; also Vicia; Corylus and Salix in flower. 
March 27th, Peastizs major in lower. March zoth, 
Fragaria vesca in flower. Modifications of Primula 
oulgaris were seen ihroughoni the year: a few 
with four peials, one with ien petals, five large and 
five small intervening, one with six peials. P- 
oulgaris with many similarities io a P. ¢latior, but 
certainly not that form, I thoughi it might have 
been P. variaiilis, Dui I am not quite sure. A 
fasciated currant, and a irilobed Reseda leaf seen- 
In August, a mushroom, twenty-three and a half 
inches round, one pound in weight, was brought 
into Cloughjordan (Tipperary) post-office. It was 
quite perfect and was eaien. July zoth, black- 
berries ripe. At the end of July or beginning of 
August, I saw the first autumnal iinis on some 
oaks, sycamores, anc other trees. 


Bangor, Co. Down; November Sih, 1896. 


INTERESTING LE=EcHEs —Aboni the begining of 
June, this year, while fishing for objects for 
the microscope in a pond im this neighbour- 
hood, I obtaimed several specimens of leeches 
mentioned in Scimnce-Gossir, New Series, vol. 
ii, pp- 300 and vol. iii, pp. 20. A specimen 
sent io my friend Mr. Thos. Scott, F.L.S., 
Leith, was by him seni for verification io Prof. 
Macintosh, St. Andrews, who identifies it as 
Glossiphonia bioculaia (Bergman), also Known as 
Clzpsine bioculaia (Savigny) and Hirudo siagnalis 
(Linné). There are quite a number of species of 
Glossiphonia : G. iesselaia (O. F. Muller) which also 
carries the young in the same manner, is a beantiful 
green, and theaspect is very striking. Among other 
species are G. or C. complanaia (Savigny), Hyalina 
and Sexoculaia (Bergman), ands Marginaia (O. F. 
Miller), fora lately-discovered member see Scrzncz- 
Gossip, New Series, vol.i., p. 91. In Claus-Sedge- 
wick’s Zoology, I read, “* The young of Clepsime are 
hatched ai a wery early stage, and differ essentially 
from the sexual animal both as regards the shape 
of the body and the mternal organisation. They 
have a simple imtestine, are without the posterior 
sucker and live a long time attached to the veniral 
surface of the mother; and it is not uniil they 
have received a considerable quantity of newly 
secreted albumimous maiier that they obiain an 
organisation which fits them io lead a free life” 
I have noi the opportunity, neither as regards time 
to study it, mor books of reference, io give an 
account of the creature. Perhaps some correspon- 
dent will give a proper life-history of the animal — 
Duncan Adamson, 5, Bridge Sirezt, Motherwell. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 185 


CHARACTERISTIC BRANCHING OF BRITISH FOREST-TREES: 


By THE ReEv. W. H. Purcuas. 


(Continued from page 151.) 


THE Oak (Quercus vobur, Linn.). 

ie has been thought by some botanists as well 

as by foresters that we have in Britain two 
distinct species of oak, i.e. the common or peduncled 
oak (Quercus pedunculata, of Ehrhart), and the sessile- 
fruited oak (Q. sessiliflova, of Salisbury), to which 
others have been inclined to add, as a third species, 
or at least as a variety of Q. sessiliflova, the Q. 
intermedia of Don. The botanical distinctions 


Quercus pedunculata. 


Quercus pedunculata. 


between these are found in the comparative length 


of the fruit-stalk or peduncle, which varies from 
almost nothing in some examples of Q. sessiliflora to 
a length of two, or even three, inches and more in 
Q. pedunculata, and also in the outline of the leaves, 
to which may be added a difference in the form of 
the winter buds and in the texture of their scales. 
In the case of the individuals which show these 
differences at their maximum, it is not difficult to 
decide to which of the supposed species each indi- 
vidual should be referred; but the inconstancy of 
the characters and the existence of intermediate 
forms have led most modern observers to con- 


clude that the British oaks constitute but a single 
species. In the majority of cases, however, a 
difference in the mode of branching, which shall 
presently be described, comes in to aid in the dis- 
crimination, and is often sufficient to enable us to 
recognise the sessile - fruited oak even in winter. 
Selby well remarks of this tree that, ‘‘ The growth 
of the spray or branching is freer and less tortuous 
than in Q. pedunculata, that the leaf-buds are larger, 


(Early summer state.) 


and the bark in general much whiter in colour ; the 
leaves also, when expanded, are usually larger, and 
from the length of their petioles hang more loosely 
and present a less tufted appearance than they do 
in Q. pedunculata.”’ (Selby, p. 248.) 

Arrangement of Leaves.—The leaves, and the 
branches which arise from their axillary buds, are 
arranged much more uniformly around the stem 
than in the elm and beech, for in the oak the cycle 
consists of five leaves, every sixth leaf beginning a 
fresh series. It is found, however, that a line drawn 
from leaf to leaf will pass twice round the stem or 
shoot before the sixth leafis reached. The diver- 


186 


gence or angular distance of each leaf from the next 
will therefore be two-fifths of the circumference of 
the stem. This same arrangement, which is ex- 
pressed by the fraction two-fifths, is found in the 
apple, the cherry, and various plants. 

Position of Flowers.—The oak, like the beech, is 
moneecious, the staminate and pistillate organs 
being in separate flowers although borne on the 
same tree. The inflorescence is lateral-—never, I 
believe, terminal—and therefere never interrupting 
the growth of the leading shoot. The staminate 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


bud formed. The varying length of this peduncle 
has already been mentioned. In the oak we do not 
find, as in the lime, a leaf-bud formed in the same 
axil as that from which the fruit-stalk springs, but 
the fruit-stalk, when falling off, leaves a scar closely 
joined with, and on the inner side of, that left by the 
leaf in whose axil it originated. It may, perhaps, 
be that the abnormal formation of a small leaf-bud 
near the tip of a peduncle, as just now mentioned, 
indicates that the peduncle itself would not fall off 
with the acorns, but would remain and develop a 


Quercus sesstliflora. 


flowers are arranged in loose catkins which spring 
in tufts, without any leafy accompaniment, from 
axillary buds on the lower portion of the previous 
year’s woody shoot. The axillary buds on the 
upper portion of the same shoot give rise to new 
shoots, from the axils of whose leaves (commonly 
about the seventh leaf and onwards towards the 
tip) the fertile inflorescence takes its rise. The 
fertile flowers, and the acorns which succeed them, 
are borne on a stalk or peduncle of varying length, 
and near the tip of which we sometimes find a leaf- 


(Autumnal state.) 
weakly shoot in the following year. I have not 
been able to make certain as to this. 

In the oak we find the peculiarity that the 
staminate flowers spring from the wood of the past 
year, the fertile ones from the shoot of the present 
season. If, then, we examine, towards the close of 
summer, the shoots of the past and present seasons, 
we find the lower part of last year’s wood bare of 
leaves, and showing only the scars from whence the 
leaves and staminate catkins have fallen, whilst 
the upper portion of the same (last year’s) shoot 


PP 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 187 


has given rise to other shoots bearing leaves and 
acorns, and though still green, yet soon in their 
turn to become woody. 

Length of Internode.— In the more vigorous, quick- 
growing examples of the oak, the internodes of the 
yearly shoot are often of the length of two or more 
inches. This applies to the middle portion of the 
shoot, for the very lowest and earliest formed inter- 
nodes are scarcely at all developed, whilst those 
nearer the tip and which have been formed late in 
the season are shorter and shorter, so that the last- 
formed leaves, and the buds in their axils, are 


The same things occur to these branches in their 
turn; each of them, both terminal and lateral, 
comes to an end in a rosette of leaves (through 
the shortening of the internodes as the season 
advances), the buds formed in the axils of these 
leaves forming a crown at the tip of the shoot, and 
the main axis preserving the same direction from 
year to year, so that we may sometimes trace it 
from the main trunk almost to the last year’s 
shoot. 

This mode of growth is what we commonly find 
in the sessile-fruited oak, but it is by no means 


, 
ae 
LIS 

Neen) 


TV gpmnotc 


Quercus pedunculata, Ehrt. (Flowering state.) 


grouped as a rosette or crown at the top of the 
shoot. 

Comparative vigour of buds.—The terminal bud 
is, so long as the tree is in the height of vigorous 
youthful growth, usually larger, more prominent, 
and with more force of development than the 
others which surround it. Hence the shoot which 
springs from it takes the lead, so that each season’s 
growth is continuous with that of the preceding, 
whilst the leader is surrounded by three or four 
smaller branchlets starting in umbellate fashion 
from the internodes just below its own point of 
origin. All of these, both leader and lateral shoots, 
may bear flowers and, in due season, acorns. 


confined thereto, for it occurs, although less gene- 
rally, in the pedunculate oak. 

In this latter, and more particularly as the tree 
grows older, or becomes less vigorous, we find 
another mode of growth. The lateral buds of 
the crown or rosette are frequently stronger and 
more vigorous than the central one. When this 
is the case one or more of these lateral (axillary) 
buds will develop into shoots, whilst the central 
(terminal) bud remains dormant. The direction 
taken by these shoots makes a wide angle— 
almost a right angle—with that of their parent 
shoot, and thus is laid the foundation of that 
zigzag or elbowed branching which we regard 


188 


as most characteristic of an oak at maturity or in 
its decline. 

Tendency to flower.—As the tree increases in age 
the tendency to a robust leafy growth gives way 
to a disposition to bear flowers and fruit, and so to 
provide for the reproduction of the species. The 
shoots formed are less stiff and thick than in earlier 
years, and consist of shorter internodes. The 
greater number of their leaves form axillary buds, 
which, in the next season, will put forth staminate 
catkins; the only leaf-buds formed by such shoots 
are those in the axils of the terminal rosette of 
leaves. When the staminate catkins, after fulfilling 
their office, have withered and fallen, the branchlet 
is left bare for the greater part of its length, and thus 
originates that tufted interrupted character of foliage 
which is commonly associated with the elbowed 
branching of a veteran oak. 

Angle.—The angle which the branches make with 
the stem, and the spray with the branchlets, is 
variable. The lower main branches often spread 
almost horizontally from the trunk; those above 
them take a more upward direction. In the case of 
the younger growths, such of the sprays as originate 
towards the middle of the previous year’s shoot 
make an angle with it of less than half a right angle. 
Those which spring from near the tip make, as has 
already. been said, nearly a right angle, and become 
the foundation of a tortuous gnarled growth as they 
eventually become branches. 

Diameter of yearly shoot.—This is not great, 
being about one-eighth of an inch; a greater thick- 
ness, indeed, than in the beech, but considerably 
less than in the ash or horse-chestnut. The rigidity 
of the spray of the oak seldom allows of any droop- 
ing tendency. 

In examples where the terminal bud of the lead- 
ing shoot has, season after season, been vigorous, 
the original direction of the branch will, as already 
observed, be followed for a long distance. All 
varieties seem eventually, however, in their ultimate 
branching, to take a zigzag direction, owing, as 
already explained, to the greater vigour of the 
lateral over the terminal buds. This tendency 
shows itself much earlier in the life of some trees 
than of others, and more notably in the pedunculate 
than in the sessile-flowered oak. 

The oak, from its noble stature and the sturdy, 
vigorous growth of its branches, has always been 
regarded as the king of forest trees. In its main 
outline and general features it shows consider- 
able variation. Some individuals are lofty, others 
spreading in outline. In the one case the height 
greatly exceeds the diametric spread of the branches; 
in the other the extent of the branches measures 
much more than the height of the tree. 

Gilpin happily remarks (p. 48): ‘‘ The limbs of 
most trees spring from the trunk. In the oak they 
may rather be said to divide from it; for they, 


‘ of the characteristic beauties of the oak.’ 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


generally carry with them a great share of the 
substance of the stem. You often scarcely know 
which is stem and which is branch; and towards 
the top the stem is entirely lost in the branches.” 
Again (p. 140) : ‘‘ The oak divides his boughs from 
the stem more horizontally than most other decidu- 
oustrees. Thespray makes exactly in miniature the 
same appearance. It breaks out in right angles, or 
in angles that are nearly so, forming its shoots 
commonly in short lines, the second year’s shoot 
usually taking some direction contrary to that of 
the first. Thus the rudiments are laid of that 


abrupt mode of ramification for which the oak is 


remarkable.” 

Selby’s (p. 284) words are well worth quoting as 
they illustrate and carry out what has been said : 
‘““The horizontal direction of the branches, their 
strong tortuous and sinewy aspect, the angular 
interwoven nature of the spray, are all suited to 
the pencil, and give to the oak, even in its 
denuded state, a richness of appearance possessed 
by no other tree. Its foliage, also, is such as a 
painter likes to delineate, being richly tufted and 
clustered together, forming those masses which 
produce the finest effect of light and shade, 
and its colour is warm, rich and pleasing, from the 
period that the leaves first burst their cerements to 
the rich russet tints they acquire previously to their 
fallin autumn. The tufting of the foliage, we may 
remark, is much more conspicuous in the peduncled 
oak than in the sessile-fruited variety, and on this 
account the former surpasses its rival in picturesque 
effect, for, as the Rev. W. T. Bree observes, ‘ the 
leaves of the Q. pedunculata, though rather small, 
are very numerous and grow close to the spray, 
clustered in those dense masses which constitute one 
Whereas 
those of Q. sessiliflova, though larger in size, are 
less thickly set, and from the length of the petioles, 
hang loose and straggling, and give to the general 
aspect of the foliage that want of depth and solidity 
possessed by the other.” 


Sir BENJAMIN WARD RICHARDSON, the eminent 
physician, died of apoplexy, early on Saturday 
morning, November 2ist, after a very short illness. 
He was a zealous advocate of teetotalism, and one 
of the first medical men to recommend cycling as 
conducive to health. In 1865 Dr. Richardson 
devoted much time to research into the nature of 
the poisons spreading contagious diseases which 
resulted in the discovery of a special product 
common to all these poisons, to which he gave the 
name of septine. He also spent much time in 
searching for an anzsthetic which would abolish 
pain in surgical operations. He was one of the 
first to use methylene bichloride for this purpose. 
Dr. Richardson was the editor of the Asclepiad, a 
quarterly journal which has occasionally been 
referred to in the pages of SciENcE-Gossip. He 
was also the author of numerous works of medical 
and general interest. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


STRRUCHUVAL. HEAT WRES SEN ROTIFERA. 
By Cuas. F. RoussELet, F.R.M.S. 


[3 reply to Dr. Stokes’ recent notes on American 

Rotifers, I hasten to inform him and other 
readers of SclIENCE-GossiP abroad, that the curious 
organ seen by him at the entrance of the cesophagus 
into the stomach of Brachionus bakevi and other 
rotifers, is also invariably present in the European 
forms, and I cannot say why it is not mentioned in 
Hudson and Gosse. In some species the cesopha- 
gus seems to be prolonged as a little tube within 
the stomach, an excellent arrangement to prevent 
the return of the food particles, but the movement 
of the tube is due entirely, I consider, to the action 
of the flagelliform cilia, with which the inner wall 
of the esophagus islined. These cilia are often very 
long, and I have seen them individually in the ceso- 
phagus of Asplanchna priodonta and A. brightwellit. 
Again, with regard to the dorsal and lateral antenne, 
they are almost universally present (in the Philo- 
dinaea only the lateral antennz appear to be absent), 
but sometimes very difficult to see. In Pterodina 
the single dorsal antenna is always, the two lateral 
antennae often, very small, but can always be found 
with a sufficiently good glass, the latter high up near 
the edge of the lorica nearly on a level with the jaws. 
Mr. Gosse seems to have seen the antennz only in 
a few of the larger species, and the reason for this 
is obvious when the circumstances are considered. 
Most of Mr. Gosse’s work on rotifers was done in 
the fifties and early sixties, when object-glasses 
were much inferior to what they are now, and 
later, in the eighties, when Mr. Gosse resumed his 
work, he was past seventy years of age, and he 
may well be excused if his eyesight was no longer 
as good asin younger days. Further evidence on 
this subject is furnished by the following passage in 
his son’s book, ‘‘ The Life of P. H. Gosse,” page 
254: ‘‘ Another and more permanent friendship 
formed at Tenby (in 1854), was that with Mr. 
Frederick Dyster, the zoologist, from whom he 
bought, for £30, the microscope which he con- 
tinued, regardless of modern improvements, to use 
until near the end of his life.”’ 

This old microscope is still in the possession of 
his widow, and explains a good deal; no one could 
better describe and delineate what he saw than Mr. 
Gosse, but naturally, his powers of seeing minute 
details were limited by the quality of his microscope, 
and the great wonder only is that he has seen so 
much. 

The modern apochromatic lenses are so vastly 
superior to the optical means at our disposal twenty 
years ago, that we must not wonder at often finding 
minute structures in rotifers, which our predecessors 
in the study could not see, or could only imperfectly 


see under exceptionally favourable circumstances. 
Thus, Mr. Gosse figures the tubules at the sides of 
the body of Copeus pachyurus, and says of them: 
“TI can discern, even with a high power, no setae 
at the tips of these tubules.’”” And yet they are 
there, and readily seen with a modern apochromatic 
34-inch. In many other rotifers I have found the 
lateral antennze, although Mr. Gosse positively 
states that there are none, because he could not 
find any. 

I would earnestly advise students of rotifers not 
to make new species, because of such minute 
anatomical details, otherwise endless confusion will 
follow. The descriptions and figures of the 
rotifers we have are by no means quite accurate or 
complete, and there is a great deal to be done in 
checking and correcting the older observations, and 
besides, a good deal of variation must be allowed 
in the size and shape of some species. 

About 286 new species of rotifers have now been 
named and described since 1889, when the Supple- 
ment to Hudson and Gosse’s Book was published. 
A considerable number of these will have to be 
struck off the list as being synonyms, or species 
insufficiently figured and described. 

Dr. Stokes’ new Salpina similis, described in the 
‘‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History "’ for 
July last, is, it seems to me, identical with Gosse’s 
S. macracantha. His Notommata mirabilis is nothing 
but our N. tripus ; the two frontal and two lateral 
antenne can be seen here as well as in America, 
and the size and position of the tail varies some- 
what. Further, it is certain, that even Gosse’s N. 
tvipus and N. pilavius are one and the same animal ; 
the views of both figures can be obtained perfectly 
by focussing higher and lower on the same animal. 
The new Rattulus palpitatus is most probably 
identical with Coelopus brachiurus. Iam convinced 
Mr. Gosse made a great mistake in founding the 
genus Coelopus, and describing the toes as one 
within the other. His figures are fairly correct, 
but his interpretation [ consider wrong. All the 
animals of this genus have two narrow, curved, 
nearly equal toes, separated at the base, but joined 
at the tip, thus leaving a clear space between and 
moving together. This clear space Mr. Gosse took 
for a toe lying in the hollow of the other toe. By 
crushing a number of these animals the falacy is 
quicky dispelled. 

I hope I have said enough to warn students of 
rotifers against making new species simply because 
they find some structure which is not mentioned in 
the original description. 

27, Great Castle Street, London, W 


OOKS TO READ| 2 


a 
WE 


PP 


o , 
rs _ 


NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 


Round the Year: A Series of Short Nature-Studies. 
By Proressor L. C. MIALL, F.R.S. 295 pp. 8vo, 
and 72 illustrations. (London and New York: 
Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1896.) Price 5s. 

The satisfaction of taking up any work by 
Professor Miall lies in the feeling that whatever 
therein may be contained will be not only popu- 
larly written, but also with accuracy. So much 
book-making nowadays exists that it is really 
difficult for the uninitiated to select the grain from 
the chaff, among the ‘‘embarrassment of riches”’ 
displayed on the counter in a good book-shop, for 
readers with a taste for science. Still there is 
safety in names of authors, and among them we 
may count the writer of ‘‘ Round the Year.’ In 
this book we find the most commonplace subjects 
treated as an entertaining story. These subjects 


CLaws OF NIGHTJAR AND HERON. 
(From Professor Miall’s ‘‘ Round the Year.’’) 


are selected with a seasonableness which is 
attractive, and show how easy it is to find food for 
speculative thought, even in the cold and desola- 
tion of wet or snowy wintry days. Take, for 
instance, the thoughts expressed in the chapter on 
“Animals with and without combs,” from which 
we reproduce a couple of illustrations, one being 
the claw of a nightjar, magnified, and the other a 
claw of a heron, also magnified. Professor Miall 
says, ‘‘I sit by the fire and lazily watch Theta 
cleaning and smoothing her fur. She not only 
washes, but combs her fur with her tongue. We 
have all allowed some pet cat to lick our hands, 
and know very well that she has a rough tongue. 
Cuvier tells us that the lion’s tongue is so rough 
that it can be used to rasp the flesh from bones, 
and it has been said that the cat’s tongue is 
used in the same way. In the case of the lion, 
the horny, recurved claw-like papille are nearly 
a quarter of an inch long, but I doubt whether the 
cat’s tongue is an efficient rasp. What, then, is 
the use of the horny papille which the cat too 
possesses? J think they are chiefly serviceable as 
a comb, and that it is because the cat bears furand 
not because she devours flesh that she has a 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


prickly tongue. Are then all fur-bearing animals 
provided with a prickly tongue? By no means.” 
He proceeds to discuss many animals and their 
various methods of trimming their fur or feathers. 
There are about forty subjects treated, generally 
from simple incidents that form texts upon 
which much valuable information is based, as in 
the case of Theta and her rough tongue. Some of 
these titles include ‘‘ White of Selborne,”’ ‘‘ Snow- 
flakes,’ ‘‘ Buried in the Snow,” ‘‘ Which are the 
Wettest Months?” “‘ Catkins,” ‘‘ The Botany of a 
Railway Station,” ‘‘ Duckweed,” ‘‘ Tennyson as a 
Naturalist,” all of which may be read with 
pleasure and instruction. In this work there is 
not a dry page, but if one finds less interest in 
some of the subjects than others, there is ample 
variety to select from. 


Elementary Geology. By G.S. Boutcer, F.L.S., 
F.G.S., 180 pp. 8vo, illustrated by 132 figures. 
(London and Glasgow: William Collins, Sons and 
Co., Limited.) Price ts. 6d. 

This handy little book forms one of Collins’ 
Elementary Science Series, and is founded on ‘‘ The 
First Book of Geology,’ by the late Dr. W. S. 
Davies. Professor Boulger has re-written and 
revised that work, and brought his subjects up to 
present knowledge. His mode of treating the 
various items is concise, and after the manner of 
the modern text-book, which seems to be all that 
is desired by the class of gentlemen to whom the 
author dedicates his work. This system of cram- 
ming with just enough knowledge of various 
subjects seems to be a necessity of these times of 
competitive examinations, but we seriously doubt if 
it is one which will find favour with generations to 
tocome. The only hope is that the youth of the 
present time, if not well-nigh nauseated during the 
process of cramming, may learn sufficient to create 
a taste for more deliberate study. These remarks 
are not by any means directed against the book 
before us, for it is one of the best of its class, and 
we congratulate Professor Boulger on so far 
succeeding in the uncongenial task of whittling 
down the information to such narrow limits, and 
yet lucidly stating in a few words what should 
require whole volumes. At the end of the book are 
printed the questions given in the years 1889-1896, 
in the Science and Art Department first stage or 
elementary examinations. These should be useful 
to many students as examples of what they may 
expect when their turn comes around. 


The Theory of Perspective. By C. H. SwinstEap. 
(London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co.) Price 2s. 

This is a technical work especially prepared for 
candidates of the Science and Art Departments. 
The problems are carefully prepared and explained. 


In the Green Leaf and the Seve. By ‘‘ A Sonof the 
Marshes.’ 288 pp. large 8vo. Edited by J. A. 
OwEN. With illustrations by G. C. Haité and 
D. C. Nicuott. (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, 
Tribner, and Co., Limited, 1896.) Price 7s. 6d. 

Another book on country lore is beforeus. We 
welcome it with all its faults; for do not these 
books turn men’s minds from the sordid city to the 
beauties of rural life? Handsomely produced by 
the publishers, it is a tempting treasure for the 
naturalist and country lover “who has not yet 
reached the ascetic stage of specialism, To him, 
and her also, will this book appeal, with its 
word pictures of common objects. Not always 
is the style of these pictures what one would write 
down as elegant, nor, indeed, expressive. For 


— 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. IgI 


instance: ‘‘ The frog, like the common snipe—that 
in some districts has got very uncommon—likes a 
nice dry place to ‘absquatulate’ in and to think 
matters over; for froggy is by nature very con- 
templative. The herons know all about this weak- 
ness of his, and they glide like shadows to where 
he sits, with his beautiful eyes staring at nothing 
in particular, and ‘embalm’ him.” How much 
more effective would have been this paragraph 


great shrike, for one was seen in the same place 
to which I have above referred, in the year r8gr. 
Three, or it may be four, dead ones have been 
shown mein the course of the last seven years, 
and all these had been shot in a sort of ‘no man’s 
land’ district, where old orchards still existed.” 
There is much delightful reading in this book, but 
it is unnecessarily disfigured in some places by 
paltry little expressions which could have been so 


A HaAwFiIncH. 


without the term ‘‘absquatulate’”; for the word 
‘‘embalm”’ there remains so many other words in 
our language far more expressive. Not that all is 
of this manner, for occasionally we meet with pages 
where the word pictures are those to ponder over. 
Writing of the great shrike, ‘‘ A Son of the Marshes” 
Says: ‘' Certain flight lines are followed by a certain 
class of birds, even although the inducement that 
at one time caused them to follow those lines may 
have ceased to exist. This is the case with the 


(From ‘In the Green Leaf and the Sere.”) 


easily spared; for instance, ‘‘a certain class of 
wind-bag ornithologists.” The illustrations are 
spirited, and produced as well as half-tone process 
work ever succeeds. With the permission of the 
publishers we give one of them here, representing 
a hawfinch in an alder tree. The book is one we 
can quite recommend, though it would have been 
much improved by a little better taste having been 
exercised in eliminating a number of commonplace 
colloquialisms. 


192 


(SCIENCE ABROAD): 


Tage 


INGE 


CONTRIBUTED BY G. K. GUDE, F.Z.S. 


BOLLETTINO DEI MUSEI DI ZOOLOGIA ED ANA- 
TOMIA COMPARATA DELLA R. UNIVERSITA DI 
Torino (Turin: xi., 1896). Dr. Guiseppe Para- 
vicini gives the result of his anatomical and 
histological researches on the common garden- 
snail (Helix pomatia),in which he deals with the 
lingual ribbon, radula, and the various muscles in 
an exhaustive manner. Dr. Achilli Griffini treats 
of the Italian Acroceridi, a section of Diptera, figur- 
ing a new variety of Oncodes marginatus, under the 
name of var. etvuscus. Dr. Daniele Rosa describes 
two new species of worms, 7.¢. Allolobophora tigrina 
and A. exacysiis, the former from Mehadia and the 
latter from Siebenburgen. Dr. Achille Griffini 
discusses the specific value of Dytiscus disjunctus, 
and while inclined to the view that it is more nearly 
allied to D. lapponicus than to any other species, yet 
it differs more from that species than does D. civcum- 
cinctus from D. mayginalis,and he therefore considers 
D. disjunctus sufficiently distinct to warrant its being 
regarded as a separate species; a figure of a male 
specimen accompanies the text. Mr. T. Salvadori 
contributes a catalogue of a collection of birds 
from the neighbourhood of Deli, Sumatra, 109 
species being enumerated, with bibliographical 
references. Professor L. Camerano treats on a 
skull of Cercopithecus ruber, with anomalous denti- 
tion, with four figures in the text. Dr. M. G. 
Peracca describes two new species of snakes, 
from South America, Atractus boulengerii and 
A. ividescens, with figures of the heads. The 
same author catalogues the reptiles and Amphibia 
collected by Dr. Festa in Darien and Panama. 
He figures the head of Ptychoglossus festae, originally 
described by him in the same work as Diastemalepis 
jesiae, as the type of a new genus, but further in- 
vestigation has induced him to include the species 
in the older genus. He also figures the head of 
Scolecosaurus pallidiceps, described by Cope in 1862. 
Dr. Filippo Silvestri, in enumerating the Chilopoda 
and Diplopoda collected by Dr. Festa near La 
Guayra, in Darien and near Cuenca, describes several 
new species, illustrated with figures in the text. 
Dr. Peracca further catalogues the reptiles and 
Amphibia collected near Buluwayo, by the Rev. 
Luigi Jalla, a missionary on the Upper Zambesi; 
one new species of snake, Psammophis jallae, is 
described and illustrated by two figures. Dr. 
Filippo Silvestri describes and figures five new 
species of Diplopodacollected by the same mission- 
ary. Professor Corrado Parona and Dr. Vincenzo 
Ariola each contribute an article on Helminthidae of 
the Zoological Museum of Turin. 

L’EcHANGE REVUE LINNEENNE (Lyons: July- 
November, 1896). Mr. N. Roux enumerates the 
plants collected during the annual outing of the 
Botanic Society of Lyons. Mr. Daveau discusses 
the littoral flora of Portugal. The flora of that 
country, he informs us, is beginning to be ex- 
tremely well known, thanks to active researches, 
especially during the last fifteen years. The 
littoral zone, with which the author deals princi- 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


pally, comprises an extent of 793 kilometres, which 
is increased by the vast estuaries joined by 
the marshes. The Tagus divides the country 
into two regions, the northern—mountainous, 
rainy and colder; the southern—dryer, with 
plains predominating. The differences, however, 
are less accentuated over the littoral zone 
on account of the neighbourhood of the sea. 
Mr. Mollerat gives the results of dredgings carried 
out along the coast of Saint-Raphael (Dept. Var), 
at depths of thirty to seventy metres. Mr. Maurice 
Pie contributes a long list of habitats of Ptinidae, of 
North Africa, which does not profess to be exhaus- 
tive, since he does not enumerate all the species 
known to occur in that region, nor does he giveall 
the habitats known for those he enumerates, they 
are simply cited from the specimens in his collec- 
tion; a total of fifty-three species and fifteen varie- 
ties is given. Mr. Arnould Locard discusses Helix 
intersecta and its allied forms. It appears that Helix 
caperata, described by Montague in 1803, in ‘‘Testacea 
Britannica,” is the same shell as Helix intersecta, 
described two years previously by Poiret in 
“ Coquilles fluviatilis et terrestres de l’Aisne,’’ the 
latter name has, therefore, precedence. Four other 
forms, closely allied, and forming with the type 
species a natural group, are described in detail. 
They are all members of the French fauna, and 
are, according to Mr. Locard, very little under- 
stood, a remark which we can fully endorse; they 
are, in fact, likely to remain so. 


La FEUILLES DES JEUNES NATURALISTES (Paris: 
October and November, 1896). M.Cossman con- 
tributes an extensive and valuable summary of 
works on Paleoconchology. A new land-shell is re- 
corded for the French fauna by E. Margier, who 
found Pupa mortilleti at Briancon, in the Hautes 
Alpes. M. Guignon gives an illustration of a 
monstrosity of Helix hortensis, in which the upper 
left tentacle is bifurcate, each branch bearing 
an eye and each being independently retractile. 
Mr. C. Davies Sherborn contributes an exhaustive 
report on work done and changes carried out in the 
British Museum. Mr. Gustave Dollfus contributes 
an instructive article ‘‘ On the Delimitation of the 
Species of Animals.” In summarising a work by 
Mr. G. Coutagne, on ‘‘ Researches on the Polymor- 
phism of the Mollusca of France,” he draws 
special attention to the useless creation of innu- 
merable species by the new French school of 
conchologists, founded by the late Mr. Bourguignat, 
and still continued by several of his followers. It 
is worthy of note that Mr. Coutagne knows per- 
fectly the species (?) created by Mr. Bourguignat, 
and has studied equally those of Mr. Locard and 
others of the same school, having had their types 
in his own hands, and that he has received, under 
different names, specimens absolutely identical and 
from the same locality. To give but one instance 
of the useless multiplication of so-called species, 
we may mention that under the synonymy of Helix 
stviata no less than twenty-seven names are 
enumerated which have from time to time been 
raised to specific rank. In expressing the hope 
that Mr. Coutagne will render the service to science 
of producing a real catalogue of the terrestrial and 
fluviatile mollusca, which can with certainty be 
recognised in France, a hope that will be echoed 
by every malacologist who has the real interest 
of his favourite study at heart, we welcome 
this well-timed protest by two eminent Frenchmen 
as a sign of reaction against the perversion of 
science. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 


Position at Noon. 


Rises Sets R.A 
Dec hm. him, him Dec. 
Sun oo len SR EMO co SHUG Goo Oe coo BE By! TS 
18 ... 8.5 wee 3.50 6 IGS Say BS BY 
28... 8.9 mee 3050) HEI coy Be HG! 
Rises Souths. Sets. 
Moon “2.5 Sie 12.13)8.m. 53-32 P.M; .-. 8:2) p:m: 
18... 2.3 P.M. ...10.55 .. 6.50a.m. 
.28 ... 1.6 aM. ... 6.27 a.m. ... 11.33 
Position at Noon. 
Souths. Semi als 
h.m. Diameter. him. Dec. 
Mercury... 8... 0.15 p.m. ... 2" 3 eel 7220 24 58m Ss 
18... 0.46 Cas) Wl 18136) 25 252 227 
2B... 1.14 cos ee th EST O:4 40-230 22) 
VieEnusie sa Olsen (2230 con) GL BELO A Sire 23m t4lios 
18 ... 2.49 ee Ta 5 nn PIONS) Son HO? SYA? 
28 ... 2.58 a5 WO) Me 21-27) ea Om 504 
Mars ... 8... 0.I1 a.m. 8" 3 5.19 ... 25° 39’ N. 
18 Efe) OHI, koa its 1 GO coo BH? SIV 
28 ... 10.17 LAG fon LMG) oon BGP BEY 
Jupiter ... 18 .... 4.59 a.m. ...18" 2 poo MONE eas SS G7 Ne 
Saturn ...18 ... 9.42 Pee oa 4 5 RGD cos 207/79 17?) So 


Uranus ... 18 ... 9.48 . a 15 SO peeLOgil2/nSs 


Neptune.,. 18 ... I1.19p.m. .,, 1" 2 9 5.II ... 21” 32’ N. 
Moon’s PHASES. 
hm. him, 
New ... Dec. 4... 5.51 p.m. ist Oy. ... Dec. 12... 0.29 a.m. 
Full ... ,, 20... 4.5 a.m. BA Oecco op | i/o ©) DA 


Sun.—Spots may still be expected to be few and 
small, though there is a slightly increased activity. 

Mercury, from its nearness to the sun in the 
early part of the month and great southern declina- 
tion later on, is badly placed for observation. 

VENUS is an evening star, setting on December 
30th at 7.38 p.m., but is too far south for good 
observation. 

Mars, being in opposition to the sun at 6 a.m. 
on December 11th, is in its best position for obser- 
vation, though its small angular diameter is not 
favourable for the easy study of its details. It is 
visible all the night. ; 

JUPITER rises at I1.1 p.m. on December rst, and 
at 9.15 on 31st, and is in position for observation 
until sunrise. On the morning of the 13th, at 3.29, 
the outer satellite, iv., enters upon the disc, 
passing off at 7.54. On the 2oth, at 10.7 p.m., iii., 
the largest moon, passes on to the disc, and off at 
1.38 on the morning of the 21st. They may 
probably appear as dark spots when they are near 
the middle part of the transit. 

SATURN and Uranus are too close to the sun for 
observation. 

Meteors should be specially looked for on 
December 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th and 2tst. 

VARIABLE StTars.—During December the follow- 
ing may be looked for : 


R.A. Magnitude, 
hm, Dec. Max. Min. Period. 
€ Aurigze 4.52 43°37 N. 3°55 4°5 
oils Wee Gos- 5 aio SS 53°26’ N. 66 12°7: 12°47 days. 
R. Leporis .,. ... 4.53 15° of S. 6:0 9'0 439'0 days. 
15, S. Monocerotis 6.33 10° 2'N. 49 56 3d.1oh.48m. 
aOrionis .. ... 5.48 7222’ N. ro 1°'4 Irregular. 
5 r ase ine cee ted CCM SIS Lea CE 


Minima of the star Algol should occur December 
3rd, 11.5 p.m.; 6th, 7.54 p.m.; 26th, 9.36 p.m.; 
and 29th, 6.25 p.m. 


193 


Tue STUDY OF THE SuN’s SuRFACE.—A good 
way to make a general examination of the disc is to 
allow the image projected from the eyepiece to fall 
on a white card, when it can be examined by a lens, 
both for dark spots and bright (faculee), any special 
details can then be examined directly, the dark cap 
being screwed on the eyepiece, or, better still, a 
properly constructed solareyepiece. For the study 
of large spots, a tiny pinhole diaphragm in an ordi- 
nary astro-eyepiece is most useful, permitting the 
nuclei to be observed in the umbrz, adding much 
to the marvellous structure which these spots 
reveal. Changes take place in these spots very 
rapidly sometimes. In a large spot visible early in 
November, such changes took place, involving 
immense areas, in the interval between I1.30 a.m. 
and 2.45 p.m. on November 6th. 


Tue Great Group oF Sunspots visible in the 
middle of September, was a truly remarkable 
object, occupying forty-four hours crossing the 
central meridian. The area covered by the gigantic 
disturbance was, in round numbers, 2,400,000,000 
square miles. It is remarkable that amongst the 
spots forming the group there was a constant 


recurrence of a double umbra. This will be 
noticed in the reproduction which we give of the 
Greenwich photograph taken September 16th, 
and very kindly forwarded to us by the Astronomer 
Royal for that purpose. A remarkable object was 
the little black pilot spot which preceded the main 
group. 

WE are sorry to have to record the sudden 
death of M. Francois Félix Tisserand, Director 
of the Paris Observatory, in his fifty-second year. 
He received his degree of Doctor of Science in 
1868, and entered Paris Observatory as assistant 
astronomer. In 1871, he was appointed Director 
of Toulouse Observatory and Professor of Astro- 
nomy. The transit of Venus, in 1874, led him to 
travel with M. Janssen to Japan to observe it, 
and in the same year he received the red ribbon of 
the Legion on Honour. Since 1881, he has been 
a Foreign Associate of the Royal Astronomical 
Society. After the death of Admiral Mouchez, he 
was appointed, in August, 1892, Director of the 
French National Observatory. Since 1886, a great 
deal of his attention has been given to the produc- 
tion of his great treatise on mathematical astronomy, 
“ Traité de Mécanique Ceéleste. 


194 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


LaTE SwaLLows—On Sunday, October 25th, 
1896, I saw three swallows and a martin wheeling 
around the houses of Carew Road, Thornton Heath, 
near to the recreation ground. This date appears 
to be worthy of record.—E. A. Martin, 69, Benshain 
Manor Road, Thornton Heath. 


Fossit FERN AT GIANT’S CAUSEWAY.—I noticed 
this year when at the Giant’s Causeway, Antrim, a 
fossil fern, which I have not seen chronicled any- 
where before, but which may be of interest. It 
was the distinct impression of an almost perfect 
fern-leaf on one of the hexagonal surfaces of one of 
the columns of that part of the Causeway termed 
the Honeycomb (I am not quite sure if it was 
the Honeycomb, but I think it was, and next year 
I intend to look for it again). Iam unable to say 
what this fern was or how it could get there. 
Perhaps some of your geological readers might be 
able to suggest a cause.—John H. Barbour, Bangor, 
co. Down ; November 8th, 1896. 


New Focus Tuse.—Messrs. W. Watson and 
Sons, of 313, High Holborn, London, are introduc- 
ing a new focus tube on a very much improved 
principle. The electrodes are widely separated, so 
that there is no chance of sparking between them 
outside the tube; also, by a simple device, the 
whole of the cathodic stream impinges upon the 
platinum anode, and a special metal is used by 
means of which hydrogen is stored. When the 
tube gets high in vacuum, it is only necessary to 
warm it by a spirit lamp to be at once brought to 
the desired pitch of exhaustion. These tubes are 
much more brilliant than any other forms that we 
have yet seen. 


‘CAMBERWELL BEAUTY IN SCOTLAND.—I see notes 
in SCIENCE-Gossip (pp. 164 and 165) as to the 
occurrence of Vanessa antiopa over Northern Scot- 
land, stating that its occurrence in that quarter is 
rare. I do not see why it should be confined to the 
south of our Islands, as I have seen it in Norway 
and you say that it might have come from Scandi- 
navia. Morris, in his ‘‘ British Butterflies,” says 
that it has been noticed in Scotland ‘as far north 
as Ayrshire,” which is only just over the Border. 
I may mention that I once caught a specimen 
which had settled on the road opposite the Fifth 
Avenue Hotel in the heart of New York, and that 
I have seen it in Switzerland and other parts of 
Europe.—S. Arthur Sewall, Ranelagh Road, Ealing,W. 


THE PuBLicATION oF LocaLiTiES.—I have read 
with much interest, Mr. Carrington’s account of 
the discovery of Calophasia platyptera, Esp., under 
circumstances which, in his opinion, seem to 
establish its claim to inclusion amongst our 
recognised species ; but I venture to think that his 
action in describing so minutely the situation of 
the spot where the insect was procured will be 
greatly deplored by all entomologists worthy the 
name, or, in other words, by those who are 
entomologists first and collectors afterwards. At 


a time when we are beginning to realise that, 
unless speedy action be taken, many of our rarer 
species will soon be ours only in name and in the 
shape of cabinet specimens; also when the 
Entomological Society is engaged in formulating 
some scheme for checking the ravages of the 
indiscriminate collector, whose sole aim appears to 
be that of record breaking in the acquisition of long 
series of ‘‘ good things,”’ it is peculiarly unfortunate 
to find our esteemed editor aiding the spoilers in 
their work. Iam not now concerned in discussing 
the question as to whether the history of Eupithecia 
extensavia is or is not likely to be paralleled in the 
present instance, but I cannot refrain from express- 
ing my conviction that the Brighton locality will 
be practically worked to death, so far as platyptera 
is concerned, by the close of next season. Some 
will probably think my view an unnecessarily 
pessimistic one, but others, who have had practical 
experience of the persistent and unscrupulous war- 
fare waged against many of our choicest species by 
so-called entomologists, will no doubt join with me 
in protesting against the indiscriminate publication 
of details, putting ‘‘ all and sundry” on the track of 
rarities. Whilst there are black sheep in our 
ranks, and I am afraid we must with sorrow 
confess that there are many such, it is our duty in 
the best interests of entomological science to 
emulate the example set by Mr. G. T. Harris on p. 
165 of the November issue of this journal, where I 
rejoice to note that he safeguards Thecla pruni in a 
Herefordshire locality.x—F. R. Rowley, Corporation 
Museum, Leicester. 

CORRESPONDENCE WANTED.—AsS a boy I used to 
see and read SCIENCE-Gossip. Mr. J. Jenner Weir, 
F.L.S., Mr. McLachlan, Dr. Wallace (Darwin on 
one occasion), visited my father’s house, he being 
President of the West Kent Microscopical Society. 
I have travelled over almost every part of Australia 
as explorer, ‘‘overlander”’ (cattle-driver), miner, 
artist for the Illustrated London News, and in later 
years as mining correspondent for the Coolgardie 
Miner. I was artist for the Royal Geographical 
Society of New South Wales on the ‘‘ Bonito” (New 
Guinea Expedition, of 1885). Corresponding with 
Mr. Jenner Weir until his death, I used to send 
him butterflies, and relate to him what I saw in 
my travels. I am no scientific expert, but really 
love collecting and studying insects and animals. 
Mostly in out-of-the-way places, my opportuni- 
ties for obtaining little-known species of the fauna 
and flora of Australasia are unrivalled. It is a pity 
such an exceptional opportunity is thrown away. 
Might I trouble you to consider if you could intro- 
duce me to a correspondent similar to Mr. Weir ?— 
someone who has a larger mind than the every- 
day specialist-naturalist. There is much a true 
lover of nature could learn from me, although I 
hardly know the Latin name of a single animal. 
I was the first to draw attention in print to the 
tree-kangaroo of Queensland, in my novel, ‘‘ The 
Black Police.’’ In return for such help, I want to 
be posted with the latest thoughts of the broad- 
minded naturalists with whom my correspondent 
comes in contact. I would like also to have 
certain questions answered from time to time as to 
specimens I might send. The opportunity for 
collecting—especially lepidoptera and other in- 
sects, birds, minerals and plants—is great ; and it is 
really a pity that there is no one to whom I can 
send things, who could make use of them. Can 
you recommend any person who would care to 
correspond with me?—A. J. Vogan, Tauranga, Bay 
of Plenty, New Zealand. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 195 


TN Pe) a 
4 


Pe(SCIENCE GOSSIP 


4 
Aor 


A 
Wiener 


Messrs. ARCHIBALD CONSTABLEsAND Co., the 
well-known publishers, of Westminster, have secured 
the entire copyright in the English language of Dr. 
Nansen’s forthcoming work on his expedition to the 
North Pole. 


On January 7th next, the Rev. J. W. Horsley 
will give an address upon ‘‘ Birds” before the 
Fulham Society of Literature, Science and Art. 
The meetings of the society are held monthly in the 
Council Chamber of the Fulham Town Hall. 


Royat InstiTuTioN.—The annual course of 
Christmas Lectures, specially adapted for children, 
this year, at the Royal Institution, will be delivered 
by Professor Silvanus P. Thompson, F.R.S., his 
subject being ‘‘ Visible and Invisible Light.’’ The 
Managers have elected Dr. Augustus D. Waller, 
M.A., F.R.S., Fullerian Professor of Physiology for 
three years, and have appointed Dr. Alexander 
Scott to be Superintendent of the Davy-Faraday 
Research Laboratory of the Royal Institution. 


A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GILBERT WHITE.—This work 
on the Natural Historian and Antiquarian of Sel- 
borne, is announced to be published immediately by 
the Roxburgh Press. The book is by Mr. Edward A. 
Martin, F.G.S., and is published under the auspices 
of the Selborne Society, of whose Magazine and 
Leaflet Committee Mr. Martin is Honorary 
Secretary. This book runs to nearly 300 pp. 
octavo, and an edition de luxe is also contemplated. 
Mr. Martin has been furnished with information in 
compiling the Bibliography by a large number of 
ladies and gentlemen. 


THERE died on October 18th, aged 91 years, 
William Wilson, farmer, Hillocks, Alford, Aber- 
deenshire, the last of four remarkable men in that 
district, of a past generation, who devoted them- 
selves to the natural history surrounding them. 
The first was A. Murray, M.D., who wrote part of 
a work called ‘‘The Northern Flora.’’ Another, 
the Rev. J. Farquharson, F.R.S., of Alford. Then 
the Rev. J. Minto, teacher, Clatt, uncle of the late 
Professor Minto, who contributed to Professor 
Dickies’ Botanical Guide. The late Mr. Wilson 
devoted much of his leisure time to acquainting 
himself with natural history, both as investigator 
and by studying the literature of the subject. 
While occupying no prominent sphere in the 
world of science, he followed closely all attempts of 
scientific men to show the relationship of the 
various sciences to husbandry. As a botanist he 
discovered Linnee borealis growing on an open 
moor; Alpine sow-thistle at a lower sea-level than 
previously known to exist. He was the first to 
notice what has proved to be a remarkable 
extension in area of the beech fern (Phegopteris). 
He traced many remarkable changes in the dis- 
tribution of animals as affected by man’s agency, 
such as the departure of some and appearance 
and change of habits of others Of birds, the 
snipe has practically disappeared from his district, 
while the curlew and starling have established 
themselves during his time. 


god 3 
TEx 5 


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City oF LonpoN ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History Socitety.—Tuesday, 6th October, 1896. 
Exhibits: Mr. J. A. Clark, Sivex juvencus, from 
Eltham, and a specimen of the second brood of 
Hemerophila abruptaria. Mr. Tutt, Zygaena carniolica 
from Bourg d’Oisans, France, which were almost 
without the creamy rings and had the abdomen 
entirely black—a combination of the ab. diniensis of 
H.-S. and the ab. berilonensis of Stdgr. Mr. H. 
H. May, a Callimorpha dominula, with yellow hind 
wings. Mr. Bayne, a var. of the female of Argynnis 
paphia, resembling A. pandora but without the 
reddish tinge ; it was strongly tinged with the var. 
valesina green, especially on the hind wings; also 
a brown-suffused valesina; and a variety of the 
male, with the black marks forming short streaks, 
and the black spots at the ends of the wing-rays 
much enlarged. Mr. Prout, two examples of 
Aporophyla australis (var. ingenua), from Sandown, 
I.W.; also, on behalf of Major Robertson,” dark 
forms of Tephrosia bistortata (crepusculavia) and T. 
crepusculavia (biundularia), which were quite dis- 
tinguishable on account of the browner tone of the 
former. Mr. Heasler, a bred specimen of the light 
olive-green form of Triphaena fimbria, from Wimble- 
don. Mr. Southey, a series of Heliothis armigera, 
bred from larvze found among tomatoes from Spain 
and Teneriffe. Mr. Pearse, a specimen of Acidalia 
holosericata, bred, 5th October, 1896, from eggs laid 
25th June, 1896; also eggs and larve of that 
species. Mr. C. May (a visitor), a specimen of 
Hibernia aurantiavia, with a dark band similar to 
that on some specimens of H. marginavia; also a 
very brown suffused Plusia gamma. Mr. Bacot, 
drawings of hairs of larveze of Psilura monacha and 
Leucoma salicis, to illustrate a paper read by Mr. D. 
C. Bate, on ‘‘ Notes on the early stages of Psilura 
monacha and its allies.”.—Tuesday, October 2oth, 
1896. Exhibits: Mr. Oldham, a very light Crocallis 
elinguavia, and a strongly marked female Heimera 
pennaria from Epping Forest; also a short bred 
series of Hypsipetes rubevata from Cambridgeshire, 
and a specimen of theichneumon, Rhyssa persuasoria, 
from Norfolk. Mr. Prout, a very dark Lufevina 
testacea, eight Cavadvina ambigua, and others, from 
Sandown. Rev. C. R. N. Burrows, a male Efpione 
apiciavia with a broad purplish hind-marginal band 
on all the wings, the rest of the wing in both pairs 
being without the usual reticulations and of a very 
dark orange colour; also a small, reddish Agrotis 
nigricans almost without markings, and three 
Orthosia suspecta without the usual dots, but 
with transverse lines; all from Suffolk. Mr. 
Tremayne, a good specimen of a fungus, supposed 
to be Agaricus procerus, the parasol mushroom, from 
the New Forest. Mr. T. W. Jackson, Syrichthus 
alveolus var. tavas (with a white central blotch on 
fore-wings), from Horsham, and a bred specimen of 
Pyrameis atalanta having two large suffused white 
spots near the apex of the fore-wings and a small 
white dot near the apex of hind-wings, the red band 
on the latter was without the usual black spots. 
Mr. T. F. Clarke, a sprig of the plant from which 
the so-called jumping-beans are obtained, showing 


196 


the ‘‘beans”’ in situ. Mr. S.J. Beil, two Triphaena 
orvbona (subsequa) taken in the New Forest this year. 
Mr. Bayne asked whether any member had observed 
Nisoniades tages at rest at night. He noticed that 
when lantern-light was turned on this species it 
dropped its wings from the usual butterfly position 
to that known as the ‘‘penthouse” position. Mr. 
Tutt remarked that Spilothyrus althaeg (a Continental 
species) when perfect rests with wings depressed, 
like a geometer ; but when worn it raises them over 
its back. Mr. Tutt read a paper, ‘‘The Antenne 
of Lepidoptera, their Structure, Functions and 
Evolution.” — Tuesday, November 3rd, 1896, 
Exhibits; Mr. Oldham, Plusia chrysitis (one larger 
and one darker than usual), Plusia iota and 
Anthocavis cavdamines (with exceptionally small 
central spots), all from Wisbech; also a very long 
and variable series of Tviphaena pronuba, taken in 
his garden at Woodford, during the years 1892-9 5. 
and a small pale specimen of Naenia typica from 
the same district. Mr. H. H. May, three 
male and three female Boarmia vrepazdata, var. 
conversavia, from Lyndhurst, June, 1896, and 
a male Himera pennavia with the wings of a 
suffused smoky brown, and the apical white spot 
rather larger than usual. Mr. Tutt, specimens 
of Xanthia ocellaris and M. gilvago for comparison, 
to show that they could not well be mistaken for 
each other, although the fore-wings of gilvago are 
occasionally somewhat pointed. Captain B. B. 
Thompson then re-opened the discussion on Bombyx 
quercus and B. callunae (continued from May 5th 
last), and exhibited these species. The discussion 
was continued by Mr. Tutt, who gave a summary 
of extracts from the ‘‘ Record,” and Messrs. Bacot, 
Bayne, Nicholson, Prout, J. C. Warburg and 
others, many of whom exhibited their series. Mr. 
Warburg’s exhibit also included long bred series of 
B. spartii from the south of France. Messrs. W. 
Hewett, of York, and A. Horne, of Aberdeen, also 
very kindly sent most beautiful series of B. callunae 
from their respective localities for exhibition. 
From the general mass of the evidence brought 
forward, it seemed probable that B. quercus, B. 
callunae and B. spartii are all local varieties of one 
species, as there appeared to be no character 
whatever sufficiently constant to enable them to 
be infallibly separated. Mr. Bacot said that he 
had opened an egg of Pamphila (Hesperia) comma on 
October rrth last, and had found the young larva 
fully developed within.—C. Nicholson and L. J. 
Tremayne, Hon. Secs. 


SoutH LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History SocieTy.— October 22nd, 1896, Mr. C. G. 
Barrett, F.E.S., Vice-President, in the chair. Mr. 
A. F. Potter. of Whangarei, Auckland, New Zea- 
land, was elected a member. Mr. R. Adkin exhibited 
a series of Hadena adusta, from Shetland, very 
beautifully marked. Mr. Ficklin, bred specimens 
of Luperina cespitis from larve taken on grass stems 
in the spring. He suggested that their small size 
was due to the proper food being grass roots and 
not the green blades. A large number of specimens 
of Tephrosia crepusculavia and T. biundulavia were 
shown by Messrs. Tutt, Henderson, Barrett, 
Auld, Mera, Mansbridge, de V. Kane, Tunaley, 
H. Williams, and Chittenden, forming such a 
collection of forms as, in the opinion of all present, 
had never been before brought together. In reply 
to Mr. Barrett's re-assertion, based on Mrs. 
Bazett’s captures, that these two are one species, 
Mr. Tutt read a very exhaustive paper. He as- 
sumed that the earlier species should be termed 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


T. bistortata and the later one T. crepusculavia, as 
Mr. Prout asserted, and said that the difference of 
opinion among entomologists was largely a matter 
of the definition of a ‘species.’ They each had 
distinct life-cycles, distinct facies and one had 
seasonal dimorphism, besides which each bred true 
to its own race. He showed that errors had arisen 
from statements made on insufficient data and 
from too much reliance being placed on various 
authors’ writings, such as those made in Newman's 
‘‘ Moths.’’ He reviewed the discussion which took 
place some ten years ago in the magazines, and 
said that the concensus of opinion then was the 
same as his own. The opinions of the chief 
opponents were then discussed in detail, especially 
the various contributions of Mr. Barrett to the 
discussion. He showed by quotations that Mr. 
Barrett had accepted the idea of two species until 
he recently received certain specimens and data 
from Mrs. Bazett, including some supposed second 
brood T. biundulavia. After stating that these were 
undoubtedly T. crepusculavia second brood, he 
referred to the evidence offered as to distinctness 
by Messrs. Porritt, Fenn and Tugwell, who had 
bred both species, and pointed out the differences 
which separated the two. He showed that 
parallelism was not a sign of unity of species, nor 
was it right to compare dates of years like 1888 
with 1893. He discussed the Scotch forms, and 
remarked that they more nearly resembled the 
German specimens. Mr. Henderson said that he 
had taken T. crepusculavia in the very woods where 
it was stated by Mrs. Bazett not to occur. His 
experience and remarks agreed wholly with Mr. 
Tutt’s, and he mentioned that the late Mr. J. A. 
Cooper had reared a second brood of T. biundularia. 
The remarks made by the other exhibitors all 
tended to support the case as put forth in Mr. 
Tutt’s paper. Mr. de Vismes Kane sent an 
account of the occurrence of the only species 
(T. biundulavia) occurring in Ireland, together with 
a typical exhibit. In reply to the vote of thanks 
proposed by Mr. Barrett and seconded by Mr. 
Auld, Mr. Tutt said that the idea of species was 
simply a matter of utility, and as there were two 
distinct life cycles, it was more convenient to con- 
sider them as two species, although they might be 
very closely allied. Mr. Montgomery reported 
that there was considerable doubt about his record, 
on September 24th, that N. diptvapezium occurred 
in Yorkshire.—Hy. J. Turner, Hon. heport Secretary. 


NortH Lonpon NaTurRAL History SociEty.— 
Thursday, October 8th, 1896, Mr. C. B. Smith, Presi- 
dent, in the chair. Exhibits: Mr. Woodward, 
abnormity of Arctia plantaginis having the last pair 
of legs replaced by wings ; Miss Nicholson, fruit of 
the jessamine; Mr. C. B. Smith, Macroglossa fuci- 
fovmis, M. bombyliformis and Bombyx trefolit from 
Lydhurst, Macroglossa stellatarum from Cromer and 
Ellopia prosapiavia from Oxshott. Mr. Goymour 
recorded the capture of a specimen of Catocala 
fraxini at rest on the trunk of a lime tree in the 
Stamford Hill district, on September 27th. The in- 
sect measured four inches across the wings and was 
in very fair condition. Mr. R. W. Robbins opened 
a debate entitled, ‘‘Transplantation—is it justifi- 
able?’’ He took a decided affirmative, and main- 
tained that transplantation was justifiable in all 
cases, excepting when practised for fraudulent and 
dishonest purposes, and frequently advantageous. In 
agriculture and many other instances there was no 
disagreement between himself and his opponent ; 
the main objections to scientific transplantation 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


appeared to be (1) that it destroys the balance of 
nature ; (2) that it hinders scientific work. But, 
said Mr. Robbins, the balance of nature is being 
inevitably destroyed by man every day in the ordi- 
nary course of his existence. It is perpetually 
fluctuating in all well-populated countries. The 
effect of our own small scientific transplantations 
would practically not be felt among all this fluctua- 
tion. Dealing with the second objection, Mr. 
Robbins said that he presumed the scientific work 
chiefly hindered by transplantation was the compila- 
tion of local lists and the study of the phenomena 
of distribution deduced from them. This seemed 
a serious consideration, but the hindrance was more 
apparent thanreal. In acountry like our own, the 
fauna and flora are already so well known that any 
introduction is quickly recognised as such, and if the 
introduced species thrives, it enriches our fauna 
and flora, and provides us with additional scientific 
material, without creating confusion. An artifici- 
ally introduced species would have no chance of 
survival if the conditions were not similar to its 
native haunts. Moreover, transplantation was 
often of great use in preserving a rare species, and 
might sometimes be necessary to ascertain facts by 
experiment. In conclusion, Mr. Robbins recom- 
mended the introduction of various conifers into 
Epping Forest, and the re-establishment therein of 
the White Admiral and Silver Washed Fritillary, 
and said that, quite apart from utility, he considered 
almost all genuine work of this kind justified by the 
increase of beauty and interest which might thus 
be provided in the world around us. Mr. Prout 
replied in the negative. He agreed with Mr. R. 
W. Robbins that transplantation was of course 
justifiable under certain circumstances, but objected 
to it as a practice, and claimed that unless from 
the point of view of a naturalist it could be proved 
perfectly harmless, the point of view of the artist, 
or that of the utilitarian, could not come at all 
before the consideration of the meeting. He 
proceeded to contend that our mission is to study 
nature, not to improve upon her. Many of the 
most important scientific problems in natural 
history are worked out chiefly or entirely on data 
of geographical distribution ; and no naturalist has 
any right to hinder or even risk hindering the 
progress of scientific research in the department of 
which he professes to be a devotee, merely for the 
sake of some selfish gratification or even for the 
sake of giving pleasure to lovers of variety in 
natural surroundings. Transplantation, without 
the fullest publicity, is an offence against scientific 
knowledge. Transplantation to save extermination 
is chiefly or entirely within the same district. Trans- 
plantation to restore extinct forms is indefensible. 
Accidental transplantation is sometimes inevitable, 
but that of course was not under consideration, and 
is generally too inconsiderable in extent to do any 
serious harm. Summing up, Mr. Prout said that 
biological science demands accurate data of 
geographical distribution; that transplantation, 
especially of the more obscure forms of life, can 
hardly possibly be made so publicthat all consequent 
error is avoided ; and only too often, if naturalists do 
not set their faces firmly against the whole practice, 
there will be found those who are willing to trans- 
plant with the intention to deceive; and a very 
fruitful source of error and trouble be thereby 
created. Mr. Bacot said that this question of 
transplantation applied also toman. He himself 
was an outcome of transplantation, as instanced 
by the Huguenot immigration, which had probably 
not resulted in the increased happiness of their 


197 


descendants, but he fancied it had been on the 
whole to the advantage of the English race. 
Of course transplantation was justifiable on any 
and every plea. Certainly on precedent, for man 
had transplanted himself in every age, though 
not always successfully. With regard to trans- 
plantation causing difficulties in settling the 
geographical distribution of animals and plants, 
Mr. Bacot asked whether Mr. Prout would consider, 
because one hundred or one thousand specimens of 
any given species were to be found in a certain 
district, that this would prove them to be firmly 
established in the country. Would he not try to 
discern if the environment were suitable to all, and 
whether any might have been transplanted by some 
agency other than its own, before considering the 
point settled? After reading a modern work on 
the distribution of organic life, is it not patent 
that every portion of the globe must be visited 
occasionally by winged or finned animals or seeds, 
and that there are numberless chances of getting 
from place to place for species which do not possess 
these advantages ? Was not the crucial question 
of distribution rather one of suitability of environ- 
ment and adaptability of the organism than of 
actual opportunity of the plant or animal in 
one or another stage to reach any particular des- 
tination. There were, of course, exceptions to 
this, but they were not so numerous as might be 
supposed at first consideration. The question 
being subsequently put to the vote, the meeting 
decided in the affirmative. Thursday, October 
22nd, 1896. Mr. C. B. Smith, President, in 
the chair. The exhibits chiefly comprised 
specimens of Hypsipetes sovdidata, which were 
shown by Messrs. C. Nicholson, Prout and R. W. 
Robbins. Mr. Prout, beside his own cabinet 
drawer of the species, showed interesting variable 
series, lent by Major Robertson, of Cheltenham and 
Mr. G. T. Porritt, of Huddersfield, the latter being 
bred examples of the small bilberry-fed form. Mr. 
Prout also exhibited a short series of Cavadrina 
ambigua, two specimens of Lucania albipuncta (one 
very red the other quite grey), and a strongly 
marked specimen of Mamestva abjecta, all captured 
at Sandown, in 1896. Messrs. C. Nicholson and 
L. J. Tremayne reported Lepidoptera practically 
absent, and recent weather execrable, from North 
Wales and the New Forest. Mr. Prout read a 
paper on ‘‘ Hypsipetes sordidata,”’ the name of which 
he said would probably have to be altered, for that 
of furcata had a better title in accordance with the 
law of priority, and he expected a still older term 
would be unearthed. The paper dealt with the 
nomenclature and variation of the species, and in- 
cluded an excellent rough table of its various forms. 
Regarding its differentiation, Mr. Prout said that 
Guenée’s pale spot on the outer band was not 
absolutely reliable, nor, he was afraid, was Meyrick’s 
differentiation, but the general aspect of the insect 
was so different from that of H. trifasciata and H. 
yubevata, that no distinguishing character need be 
selected. The species was essentially a northern 
one, though common all over the British Isles ; but 
local on the Continent, disappearing altogether as 
one proceeds southwards. Mr. Prout also narrated 
its life-history, and informed the meeting of the 
incorrectness of Newman's account, that the young 
caterpillars emerge from the egg in twelve days and 
hibernate half-grown. He described how he had 
been led to doubt this by noticing (1) the develop- 
ment of ovipositor in the female, which suggested 
secure concealment of the eggs, which would hardly 
be necessary if they were to hatch in twelve days, 


198 


and (2) the entire change of habit of the larve 
which would be necessitated in the spring when it 
took to its concealed mode of life as compared with 
the open feeding on mature sallow leaves which was 
assumed for theautumn. The fact was, of course, that 
the insect hibernated in the egg. He also was not 
disposed to agree with Newman that the larve 
grew very rapidly. Its normal period could not be 
much under two months, and some of the lave 
probably took a good deal longer. This growth 
could not be considered rapid, when compared 
with Melanippe fluctuata, M. sociata, M. galiata, 
Anticlea rubidata, Covemia designata, and many 
others, all of which could go from egg to pupa 
in about three weeks. His dates for the species 
ranged from May 30th to September 15th, but 
the early dates were all for bred examples, and he 
had not met with it at large before the beginning 
of July.—Lawrence J. Tremayne, Hon. Secretary. 


NATURAL History SociETY OF GLASGOW.—At 
the opening meeting of the forty-sixth session on 
September 29th last, Mr. R. Kidston, F.R.S.E., 
F.G.S. (and subsequently Mr. Peter Ewing, 
F.L.S.), occupied the chair. Before proceeding to 
the business of the evening, the Chairman made 
feeling reference to the loss the Society had sus- 
tained since its last meeting in the death of its 
President, Professor Thomas King. A memorial 
notice was read by Mr. D. A. Boyd, in which, after 
giving an account of Professor King’s early days, 
education, and career, he referred to the various 
offices which he held in scientific societies at the 
time of his death. Mr. Joseph Somerville intimated 
the death of Mr. Alexander Mitchell, Belhaven 
Terrace, a member of the Society. Mr. Andrew 
Gilchrist, Darvel, sent for exhibition the sickle 


medick, Medicago sylvestris, Fries, from Heads of 


Ayr, Maybole parish, where he and Rev. D. 
Landsborough, Kilmarnock, had found the plant 
abundant in August last. Fresh specimens of the 
two British species of water parsnip, Simm, were 
laid on the table; S. evectum, Huds., by Mr. 
Gilchrist, from Galston parish, a new Ayrshire 
station; and S. Latifolium, L., by Mr. D. Dewar, 
curator of the Botanic’ Gardens, from a root 
brought twelve years ago by Mr. C. Sherry from 
the Royal Canal, Dublin. Mr. A. Somerville, 
B.Sc., F.L.S., exhibited specimens, six feet in 
height, of Cladium jamaicense, Crantz (C. Mariscus, 
Br.), the most handsome of British Cyperacez. 
This plant, a new record for the South Inner 
Hebrides, has been found last month by Dr. T. F. 
Gilmour and Mr. Somerville growing luxuriantly 
in a small, sheltered loch on the Kildalton estate, 
Island of Islay. 


NOTICES OF SOCIETIES. 


NortH Lonpon NaTurRAL History Society.— The follow- 
ing are amongst the fixtures for next session: 


Jan. 2—Fifth Annual Exhibition. 
», 14.—Presidential Address. 
», 28.—Short Papers on 1896. 
Feb. 11.—Discussion on ‘‘ Overcrowding and its Remedies.” 
Opened by L. J. Tremayne. 
Mar. 27.—Visit to the Epping Forest Museum. 
Apr. 8.—Discussion: ** The Filices or Ferns.” 
R. W. Robbins. 
May 13.—‘‘ My trip to Highcliffe, and what I found in the 
Barton Beds.” J. Burman Rosevear, M.C.S., 
» 15.—Whole-day Excursion to Brentwood. 
s» 27.—‘‘ Dorsetshire Notes.” J. Wheeler, M.C.P. 
June 4-7.—Excursion to the New Forest. 
» 10.—Debate: ‘Is Vivisection Justifiable?” 
s, 19.—Half-day Excursion to the Lea Valley. 


There will also be a special-family discussion entitled, 
“The Liparidz,” to be opened by Mr. A. Bacot on some date 
not yet fixed.—Lawrence J. Tremayne, Hon. Secretary. 


Opened by 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


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SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


199 


DACTYLOPIUS OR MEALY-BUGS. 


WITH A NEw SPECIES. 


By T. D. A. CocKERELL. 


ry te interesting creatures known to horticul- 

turists as mealy-bugs, a genus of Coccide, 
have not received the study they deserve in 
Europe. While Mr. Maskell has been carefully 
describing the numerous species found in Australia 
and New Zealand, those of Europe, left in a rather 
unsatisfactory condition by Signoret, have been let 
alone until quite recently. As a result of this 
neglect, Mr. Newstead, of the Grosvenor Museum, 
Chester, has been able to describe new species 
from England, Ireland and Wales, and no doubt 
there are others to be found. The first of these, 
Dactylopius walkerit, Newst., was made known in 
June, 1891, from specimens found on Agrostis 
vulgavis, at Manley, Cheshire. The second, D. 
hibernicus, Newst., published in July, 
1895, was found by Miss Tomlin, on 
grass at Ballintoy, Co. Antrim, Ire- 
land. The third, D. vadicum, Newst., 
published October, 1895, is from Puffin 
Island, Anglesea, on Avmeria vulgaris. 
All the descriptions, with figures, will 
be found in the ‘‘ Entomologist’s 
Monthly Magazine” for the dates men- 
tioned. If these discoveries are not 
enough to stimulate the British micro- 
scopists to activity, it may be added 
that recent researches have brought to 
light new British Coccidze of several 
genera other than Dactylopius. Only the other 
day I received from Mr. E. Ernest Green speci- 
mens of Rhizococcus devoniensis, Green MS., n.sp., 
found at Budleigh Salterton, Devon, on Erica 
cinerea. 

Not only may native species be studied in 
England, but our hothouses are very frequently the 
abode of exotic coccids. There are ten species of 
Daciylopius which were described from specimens 
found in Europe on hothouse and garden plants, 
their native habitat being still unknown or un- 
certain. Soduring the winter the entomologist 
who will turn his attention to these little-known 
creatures will not fail to find material for study in 
hothouses, with every prospect of interesting dis- 
coveries before him. 

Unfortunately there is no work existing which 
will enable the student to readily determine his 
coccids. For the English reader, the most con- 
venient guide to the subject is Maskell’s little book 
on the scale insects of New Zealand, published by 
the New Zealand Government, in 1887. A check- 
list of the species of Coccidze known up to the 
present time (about 800) may be obtained from 


DACTYLOPIUS LICH- 
TENSIOIDES 

in sac on twig of 
Artemisia. 


January, 1897.—No. 32, Vol. 3. 


Professor S. A. Forbes, State Laboratory of Natural 
History, Urbana, Illinois, U.S.A. However, the 
present unsatisfactory condition of things is not 
to last very long. Mr. R. Newstead has in pre- 
paration a fully illustrated monograph of British 
Coccidz, which, I believe, is to be shortly pub- 
lished by the Ray Society. It will include not 
only the native species, but those found in hot- 
houses, and will doubtless contain an immense 
amount of new and valuable information. 

The typical female Dactylopius is a small elongate 
oval creature of a yellowish or brownish colour, 
more or less besprinkled with a mealy secretion, 
possessing six legs and antenne of eight joints, of 
which the last is conspicuously longer than those 
immediately before it. The body ter- 
minates in the two rounded lobes, which 
are not produced or cylindrical; from 
them arise setz, which are sometimes 
covered with the mealy secretion, so 
that the insect hastwo white tails. The 
sides of the body often show a lot of 
little mealy tufts. All these characters 
should be observed with a lens in the 
living insect, which must then be boiled 
in a solution of caustic soda or potash 
until it is clear, and examined by 
transmitted light under the compound 
microscope for the minute details of 
the legs, antenne, etc. 

The genus Dactylopius, however, has been made 
to contain a number of curious forms differing very 
materially from the above description. This year, 
Maskell has separated three such under a new 
generic name, Lachnodius, giving excellent reasons 
for so doing. Doubtless, other genera will have to 
be erected, but the time is, perhaps, hardly ripe for 
a new generic classification of the Dactylopiine 
series. 

One of the aberrant forms reached me a few 
weeks ago, and when I saw it I thought it was a 
new Lichtensia, belonging to a group entirely 
different from the mealy-bugs. As it has not 
been published, I will give the description of it 
here. 


DACTYLOPIUS LICHTENSIOIDES, n.sp. 


Female, purple-black, slightly mealy, covered by 
a firm globular white sac, about 3 mm. long and 
high, like a Lichtensia; general form of insect, oval ; 
when boiled in caustic soda, it stains the liquid 
dark purple-black. Legs and antennz very minute, 
pale brownish. Antenne moderately slender, of 
about equal width from second to seventh joint ; 


200 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


seven-jointed, formula 7142(36)5 (1); 4 is notice- 
ably longer than 3, but 3 is not very much shorter 
than 2; 5 is nearly as long as 6, it is longer than 
broad; 7 is longer than 4 and 5. Rostral loop 
short, about as long as an antenna. Legs short, 
femur rather stout, tibia and tarsus shorter than 
femur and trochanter. Tarsus only a little shorter 
than tibia. Thelegsof the adult female are stouter, 
but only the merest trifle longer than those of the 
embryonic larve within her body. The antennze 
of the adult are considerably longer than those of 
the embryonic larve, but not twice as long. Claw 
moderately long, slightly curved, broad at base. 
Anal ring with six hairs. Caudal tubercles ex- 
tremely low, almost obsolete, each with a bristle 
resembling those of the anal ring, seven to nine 
short spines, and round gland orifices. Tarsal 
digitules filiform not very long, with minute knobs. 
Digitules of claw rudimentary, very short. Claw 
with a denticle on its inner side. 

Some of the specimens are attacked by a fungus. 

Embryonic larva turns dark violet in caustic 
soda. Antennz six-jointed, 6 much longest, 
formula 6(1235)4. 

Lately hatched larva, pinkish-brown, with pale 
yellowish legs and antennz. lLarve hatching in 
October. 

Habitat—Fort Collins, Colorado, on flowering 
stems of Artemisia frigida; September, 25th, 1896. 
Collected by Professor C. P. Gillette. 

Another curiously abnormal species which might 
form the type of a new genus is Dactylopius nipe, 
Maskell, which should be looked for on palms in 
English hothouses. It was originally described by 
Maskell and Newstead, in 1893, from specimens 
found in Demerara. Mr. Urich has found a slight 
variety of the same species in Trinidad, on midribs 
of guava leaves, tended by an ant, Azteca chartifer, 
Forel MS. Professor Davis has met with it on 
palms in a hothouse in Michigan, U.S.A. I will 
quote an unpublished description by Mr. Pergande, 
of the United States Department of Agriculture, 


made from the Michigan specimens: 


DAcCTYLOPIUS NIP#, Maskell. 


“Adult female; colour, bright red or orange; 
shape, broadly oval; length about 2 mm., diameter 
about I°4 mm., exclusive of the excretion. Excre- 
tion white or sometimes slightly yellowish on 
the dorsum. Excretion short, but dense, forming 
four dorsal rows of somewhat squarish, stout, 
conical tubercies, and a fringe of, apparently 
twenty-four, white projections around the entire 
margin; those of the head and thorax are 
shortest and broadly triangular in shape, while 
those of the abdomen are much more slender, 
cylindrical and of an elongated conical shape, all 
are directed backwards and become gradually 
somewhat longer and more slender towards the 
end of the body. The characters of the adult 
females, after boiling in potash, are as follows: 
Antenne seven-jointed; the last joint being much 
the longest and almost equal in length with joints 
4-6 combined. Joints 2-4 are sub-equal in length, 
with the third slightly shorter than the other two, 
each of them being longer than any of the others; 
the fifth being shortest of all. Legs rather stout, 


(1) The antennal formula is made by enumerating the joints 
in the order of their length, beginning with the longest and 
bracketing together those of equal length. 


especially the femora. Femora and tibize nearly 
equal in length; tarsi somewhat shorter than tibiz 
and provided with four knobbed digitules. Ano- 
genital ring with six stout bristles, and one bristle 
at each of the anallobes. There are also numerous 
small pores or spinnerets distributed over the whole 
body intermixed with a few short, stout spines; a 
pair of still longer and stouter spines may also be 
observed on each side of the thoracic and ab- 
dominal segments, and quite a number on the head 
and anal lobes. 

“Male: length about o-°8 mm.; colour, yellow, 
the head somewhat reddish; eyes, purplish; 
antennz, brownish-yellow ; disk of thorax more or 
less distinctly dusky, with the lateral margin of the 
different parts blackish. Legs yellow, with a 
dusky tinge. Style, short, conical, with two long 
and fine bristles each side of it. Antenne ten- 
jointed, the third, sometimes also the fourth and 
the last joint, longest. Wings faintly brownish, 
particularly along the costa and towards the base ” 
(Theo. Pergande, MS.) 


On comparison with Maskell’s description, the 
Michigan specimens exhibit slight differences, 
which Mr. Pergande summarises thus: 


“‘ Maskell says that the antennz are either seven 
or eight-jointed ; in this species, however, of which 
twenty-two specimens were prepared, there are 
uniformly but seven joints in all the examined 
specimens. He states also that the third and 
penultimate joints are slightly longer than the rest, 
whereas in the specimens before me the second, 
third and fourth are somewhat longer (together) 
than the seventh, the third being slightly shorter 
than the second, while the fifth is shortest of 
all.”’ 

Mr. Urich’s Trinidad specimens showed the 
tibia distinctly longer than the tarsus; the legs 
became colourless on boiling. The antennz were 
seven-jointed, 7 longest, and a little longer than 4 
and 5; 4,5, 6,equal; 3 nearly the same, but a little 
shorter; 2 longer than 3 or 4, but shorter than 7. 
Formula 72(1456)3. In another example joint 3 
was as long as 2. 

After comparing the descriptions of Maskell, 
Newstead and Pergande, and examining specimens, 
I am quite satisfied that we have to do with a 
single very distinct but variable species. 

I have introduced the above descriptions, not 
only as a contribution to the knowledge of the sub- 
ject, but to indicate the characters which are used 
in the identification of mealy-bugs. In conclusion, 
I will give a list of the mealy-bugs found in 
Europe up to the present date, whether native or 


in hothouses. 

(1) Dactylopius alaterni, Signoret; on Rhamnus 
alaternus. A doubtful species found in France. 

(2) D. cavicus, Gennadius; on Pinus. Not found 
in Europe proper, but in Asia Minor. Two 
millimetres long, reddish, covered with a 
cottony substance. A quite imperfectly-known 
species. 

(3) D. ceratoni, Sign. ; 
Similar to D. vitts. 

(4) D. citvi, Risso; south of France, Italy, etc. ; 
on citvus and a variety of other plants. A 
common greenhouse species with little cottony 


in the ~Maritime Alps. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


filaments round the body, but without long 
cottony tails. 

(5) D. adonidum, L. = longispinus, Targ. Differs 
from the last by having two very long, 
slender, cottony tails, as well as two others 
not solong. It is also a common greenhouse 
species. A most elaborate account of this and 
the last species has been lately been published 
by Berlese, the Italian entomologist. 

(6) D. ficus, Sign.; on fig at Hyéres and Nice. 
About twice as large as adonidum, to which it 
is allied. 

(7) D. indicus, Sign.; on Laurus indicus at Nice. 
Resembles adonidum. When boiled in caustic 
potash it gives a crimson colour. 

(8) D. lavandul, Sign.; in the south of France; no 
roots of Lavandula staechas. Brownish-yellow, 
2 to 3 mm. long, the lateral, cottony fringes 
not much developed. 

(9) D. vobinig, Sign. ; at Hyéres, Cannes, Nice and 
Mentone; on the so-called acacia. 

(10) D. viburni, Sign.; south of France, Maritime 
Alps and Hyéres; on laurustinus. Similar to 
D. citri. 

(11) D. vitis, Niedielski. Has been quite a pest 
where grape-vines are grown out of doors. 
Very near to adonidum ; possibly not a distinct 
species. 


(12) D. walkeri, Newst. See above. Gives a 
crimson colour in potash. 
(13) D. hibernicus, Newst. See above. Differs 


from other European species in constructing a 
complete felted sac, which covers it. 

(14) D. vadicum, Newst. See above. Subterranean, 
pale reddish-pink, very elongate. Peculiar in 
having only seven joints to the antenne, like 
the aberrant forms above described. 

(15) D. bromelig, Bouché. A greenhouse species, 
found on various plants. Its identification is 
rather uncertain; probably two or more 
species have been confused under this name. 

(16) D. cyperi, Sign. ; on Cyperus papyrus. Resembles 
adonidum. 

(17) D. hoye, Sign.; on Hoya caynosa in the green- 
houses of the Duc de Vallombrosa, at Cannes. 
Resembles adonidum. 

(18) D. liliacearum, Bouché; on Amaryllis, Crinum, 
Pancratium, etc., in cultivation. Imperfectly 
known. 

(t9) D. mamillavrig, Bouché; on species of mami- 
lavia in cultivation. Resembles adonidum, but 
generally smaller, and there is a difference 
in the antenne. The Westwoodia mamillaria, 
of Targioni-Tozzetti, is supposed to be a 
different species, and if valid will need a new 
name. 

(20) D. pervisii, Sign.; found at Mont-de-Marsan. 
Yellow, with white powdery secretion; length, 
5 mm., breadth 1}; was made the type 


201 


of a new genus Westwoodia; also called 
Signoretia and Bergrothia. All these generic 
names are preoccupied, and a new one is 
required if the insect is removed from Dacty- 
lopius. 

(21) D. pteridis, Sign.; on Plevis aygyvea. Resembles 
adonidum. 

(22) D. tuliparum, Bouché. Imperfectly known. 
Said to be smaller, more depressed, and 
narrower than Jiliacearum. 

(23) D. theobrome, Douglas ; on Theobroma cacas, in 
the Royal Botanic Society’s Garden in Regent's 
Park. Hardly differs from citri, except that 
joint 7 of antennz is considerably shorter 
than 2. (See Ent. Mo. Mag., July, 1889, 


P- 317.) 

(24) D. zamig. Lucas. A greenhouse species, on 
zamia spiralis; supposed to come from 
Australia. Imperfectly known. 

Descriptions of most of the above will be found 
in Signoret’s famous ‘‘ Essai sur les Cochenilles.” 
Of scarcely one-fourth of them can it be said that 
we have anything like adequate knowledge, 
Several may not prove to be valid species, when 
they are properly known. 


Mesilla, New Mexico, U.S.A.; 
October, 19th, 1896. 


MABITS® OF DORMICE: 


OF the 26th of October, whilst walking through 
some underwood, I stepped on what proved, 
by examination, to be a nest of the common 
dormouse (Myoxus avellanavius) containing three 
young ones only a day or twoold. I have found 
nests of this interesting little quadruped with 
young ones from May until the middle of 
September, but, as October seemed to be unusually 
late to find it breeding, I made some enquiries 
among the keepers here, and none of them 
remember having observed so late a brood. Bell, 
in his ‘‘ History of British Quadrupeds,”’ second 
edition, p. 284, says: ‘‘ We have reason to believe 
that, in some cases at least, the dormouse 
has a second brood early in the autumn, as 
we have received from one locality, in the month 
of September, an adult one, one half grown, and 
three very young ones, apparently not more than 
a fortnight or three weeks old.’’ Whilst on the 
subject of dormice,I may mention a singular fact 
that came before my notice in the spring of this 
year. From time to time, chaffinchs’ nests which 
I found containing two or three eggs, on re- 
examination, had the interior very much disturbed, 
and the eggs either broken or quite covered up, 
and woven into the lining of the nest, this having 
caused the bird to desert it. I was much puzzled 
as to the cause of the mischief, until one day I 
osberved adormouse busily employed in the occu- 
pation of a chaffinch’s nest ; and from what I then 
and afterwards noticed, have no doubt that these 
little creatures occasionally use such nests as a 
basis for their own. I have in my collection a nest 
so diverted, having captured the usurper in it. 
Davip J. Rice. 


Squires’ Farm, Westcott, near Dorking ; 
December, 1896. 


202 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ARTIFICIAL PRECIOUS STONES. 
By W. ERNEST OrpD, B.A. 


HE marvellous beauty of precious stones has 
appealed to mankind in all ages. In the 
East, where they are regarded with a superstitious 
veneration, the desire to possess them is almost 
a passion, and if with us this veneration has been 
diminished owing to more moderate views concern- 
ing their virtues, much of their original prestige 
clings to them. Few people, indeed, can regard, 
without being thrilled with admiration, a collection 
of beautiful gems, as they sparkle in the light and 
dazzle the eyes by a multitude of reflections. 
Nature, however, whilst exciting our admiration 
for these exquisite products of her skill, has 
granted them only in rare quantities to mankind, 
and the appreciation for them has been further 
increased owing to the mystery of their origin, and 
the impossibility, until recent years, of producing 
them artificially. With the progress of science it 
was inevitable that mankind could not rest content 
without inquiring into the composition and method 
of formation of these valuable treasures. Their 
rarity in nature has suggested the value of any 
method by which their artificial production might 
be successfully accomplished, and the investiga- 
tions, so stimulated, have led to the discovery of 
certain methods by which many of the well-known 
precious stones can be produced in the laboratory 
of the chemist. 

Success in the artificial formation of any natural 
substance is usually attained only when its consti- 
tution is well understood. Until its analysis into 
the elementary bodies composing it has been 
accomplished, and its constitution and properties 
thoroughly studied, no clue can be obtained as to 
the method by which it may be formed from more 
common materials. The natural history of precious 
stones, however, so far as known, does not afford 
much light as to their actual formation in nature. 
Their origin is, to some extent, shrouded in mystery. 
They are usually crystals, supposed to have been 
formed in rocks by a long process of cooling from 
a state of very high temperature, and they are 
generally found associated with such rocks as a 
“‘ matrix,’’ or else in the alluvial soil worn down 
from these rocks into the beds of rivers. The 
diamond, for example, occurs in a matrix of a 
kind of sandy freestone, though it is doubtful 
whether it has ever been found in the place where 
it was originally formed. The garnet occurs in 
granite and mica slate, and the ruby in the sands 
of rivers in Ceylon and in the famous ruby mines 
of Burmah. 

The study of the chemical constitution and 
properties of precious stones is instructive and 


indicates the nature of the problem of their arti- 
ficial production. They are found to be crystalline 
compounds, more or less complex, of familiar 
elementary bodies. The diamond, as is well 
known, is simply pure carbon crystallised. It is 
most valuable when perfectly colourless, and is 
then said to be of the purest water. It may, 
however, be blue, green, pink, yellow, or black. 
It is the hardest of gems, and is remarkable for its 
wonderful limpidity and high refractive power. 
Though permanent in its form, and unaltered 
under many varied conditions, it will burn in air 
at a high temperature, forming carbonic acid 
gas, the product of the combustion of carbon, 
whether as diamonds or in the coal of our fires. 
Many of the most valuable gems, again, are formed 
from the admixture of various substances with 
alumina. Alumina is the oxide of aluminium, the 
light metal now much in use, and it is the chief 
constituent of clay; but in the crystalline form, 
and when coloured by traces of other elements, 
such as chromium, it gives us rubies, sapphires and 
many other gems. Its combination with magnesia 
forms the spinels which are used for the jewelling 
of watches, and with glucina it forms the chryso- 
beryl. The emerald is found to be a compound of 
alumina, silica and glucina, coloured green by 
chromium, while the topaz, turquoise, garnet and 
beryl are all composed of alumina in combination 
with other substances. Silica, a form of which is 
the common sand of the sea-shore, when crystalline 
and coloured by minute traces of iron and man- 
ganese gives the beautiful amethyst, a transparent 
stone of a purple or violet colour. In combination 
with water, again, it forms the opal, which, owing 
to the diffraction of light its surface produces, 
exhibits a rich play of prismatic colours. The 
chalcedony, onyx and jasper are other stones of 
which silica is the chief constituent. To a different 
class of natural substances belongs the pearl, 
which is found in certain molluscs. It consists of 
concretions of carbonate of lime, formed in delicate 
layers around a foreign body, such as a grain of 
sand, which has found its way into the body of the 
animal, and against the irritation which it would 
occasion some protection is desirable. The pearl 
is found in different colours—white, yellow, pink 
and black. It is thus seen that these treasures, 
which appeal so strongly to the admiration of 
mankind, are composed of ordinary materials, but 
fashioned by nature’s wonderful architecture in 
the most exquisite forms. 

When we now turn to man’s efforts to imitate 
these beautiful products of nature, we find that a 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


success, encouraging, if not complete, has been 
achieved. Though the hope of the alchemists of 
transmitting the baser metals into gold, and thus 
of discovering, in the exercise of the chemical art, 
a short cut to wealth, seems destined never to be 
realised, it is probable that the production of true 
diamonds in the laboratory of the chemist would 
seem to the alchemists at least equally marvellous. 
From an observation of the sudden increase of 
volume which the diamond undergoes at a high 
temperature, it was concluded that it was probably 
a form of carbon which had been subjected to 
great pressure when crystallizing. Pursuing in- 
vestigations suggested by this and other considera- 
tions, Professor Moissan, of Paris, has succeeded 
in preparing diamonds similar in every respect to 
those formed naturally. In some earlier experi- 
ments, it was found that when charcoal (or carbon) 
is dissolved in various fused metals at the tem- 
perature of the electric furnace, it invariably 
crystallizes out in the form of graphite, and under 
increased pressure it forms black diamonds. In 
the process which eventually succeeded, an excess 
of charcoal and iron are melted together in the 
highest temperature of a specially contrived electric 
furnace, until the carbon is dissolved in the molten 
iron. The carbon and iron solution is then cooled 
by pouring it into just melted lead, in which, being 
lighter than the lead, it rises to the surface in 
globules. On removing the surrounding iron from 
these globules, the carbon contained therein 
appears in the form of true diamonds, possessing 
the hardness and density, the limpidity and high 
refractive power of the native diamonds. The 
stones so produced, though small, are in fact 
equal in every respect to those occurring 
naturally. 

Many investigations have been made in the 
endeavour to produce by chemical means, rubies, 
sapphires, and other stones, but though true gems 
are produced, identical in hardness and composition 
with the natural stones, the brilliancy and beauty 
of the latter are not usually attained. Alumina has 
been fused with traces of chromium, and, by a long 
process of cooling, has crystallized in the form of 
rubies or sapphires, which were, however, of an 
inferior kind. Opals have also been obtained from 
solutions of silicates and the use of electric 
currents. Complete success has, moreover, been 
attained in the artificial formation of the spinels. 
By the aid of boracic acid as a solvent for their 
constituents, they have been obtained on re- 
moving the boracic acid at a high temperature, 
in crystals of great beauty, which could not be 
distinguished by any test from those occurring 
naturally. 

Those artificial formations which have been 
most successful have only been accomplished by 
most. difficult processes, involving very great 


203 


expense. They are interesting chiefly as a remark- 
able instance of man’s power to compete with 
nature in a field where she has been most 
mysterious and unapproachable. From the practi- 
cal standpoint, the chemical methods have not 
much commercial value, for their expense and 
difficulty render the artificial stones more costly 
even than natural gems of the same size and 
quality. Possibly, however, in the near future, 
the chemist will be able to produce large and 
beautiful stones on demand, and the enormous 
prices now paid for natural gems of the kind will 
become a feature of the past. It seems probable, 
moreover, that, regarded as artificial products, 
precious stones will be dethroned from their unique 
position. Works of art, it is true, are greatly 
valued, and the skill exercised in their production 
adds greatly to the admiration they excite, but the 
excessive appreciation of famous gems is derived 
from considerations of a different kind. They stand 
alone and unrivalled in nature, and command 
respect, not only as most beautiful products of 
nature’s marvellous skill, but also as rare specimens 
only granted capriciously to luckier members of 
mankind. We may, however, look to the time 
when large and beautiful gems may be produced 
at will, and all the secrets of their formation will 
become familiar; and while we rejoice at the 
extension of human power and knowledge, we 
must with some sadness admit that much of the 
poetry and romance associated with these treasures 
will be lost. 


Hawthorne Villa, Ferry Road, Edinburgh ; 
September 18th, 1896. 


Tue Davy-FaraApDAY RESEARCH LABoRATORY.—It 
is nearly a year and a-half since Dr. Ludwig Mond, 
F.R.S., founded the Davy-Faraday Research 
Laboratory and presented it to the Royal Institu- 
tion (see ScizENcE-GossiP, N.S., vol. i, p. 12m). 
The interval has been applied in making the 
structural alterations and fitting the building with 
all the necessary appliances. The Laboratory was 
duly opened on the 22nd ult., by the Prince of 
Wales, and after the inaugural ceremony Professor 
Dewar showed experiments illustrative of the use 
of liquid air in scientific research. The Laboratory 
is for research in pure chemistry and physics. Only 
those will be admitted who have already done 
original scientific work, or who in the opinion of 
the Laboratory Committee are qualified to under- 
take it. Nobody is to be excluded on the grounds of 
nationality or sex, and admission to the Laboratory 
and the supply of gas, water and electricity, as far 
as available, will be free of charge. Lord Rayleigh 
and Professor Dewar have been appointed Directors 
of the Laboratory, and Dr. Scott will be the 
Superintendent. 


204 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ARMATURE OF HELICOID VANDSHELLS. 
By G. K. GubeE, F.Z.S. 


(Continued from page 181.) 


e speaking of Plectopylis fimbriosa, var. azona (ante 
p. 180), I stated that the only difference 
between its armature and that of the type, appeared 
to be that the palatal folds were shorter and that 
the tooth near the sixth fold was absent. Since 
writing, the Rev. Vincenz Gredler, of Bozen, 
Austria, who described the variety, has kindly 
placed two additional specimens at my disposal, 
and these confirm my statement. The specimens 
are, however, a little smaller than my own, 
measuring only 11 millimetres in diameter. 

Mr. Gredler has also favoured me with three 
specimens of Plectopylis invia, two of which I opened 
in order to ascertain whether the second vertical 
parietal plate already referred to (ante p. 181) was 
constant, and as both specimens possess this plate, 
it may reasonably be inferred that it is a constant 
feature. In this connection, however, it is worth 
mentioning that Lieut.- Colonel Godwin - Austen 
(Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1874, 
p. 609) records the presence of two vertical parietal 
plates ina specimen of Plectopylis serica, a species 
normally provided with only one vertical parietal 
plate, and he thinks that to this reduplication of 
structure is due the more compound forms of 
armature in the Burmese species of the genus. 

The same naturalist draws my attention to the 
fact that there must be an error in the second 
locality (Dafla Hills), mentioned by me for Plectopylis 
shivotensis (ante p. 156), as he believes that no 
European has been in those hills since he collected 
there, and he did not find the species in question. 
The shell I figured as from the Dafla Hills is, in 
Mr. Ponsonby’s collection, so labelled, but, as it 
was collected by Mr. Godwin-Austen, the locality 
may now, on his authority, be safely altered to 
Shiroifurar, which is 150 miles from the Dafla 
Hills, and is the place from which the species 
was originally described. 

Plectopylis stenochila (figs. 29 a-d), from Badung, 
in the Chinese province of Hoo-Pe, was described 
by Dr. von Médllendorff in the ‘‘ Nachrichtsblatt 
der Deutschen Malakazoologischen Gesellschaft,’ 
1885, p- 165, and in the ‘‘ Jahrbuch” of the same 
society, Xili. (1886), p. 186. The shell is disk- 
shaped, with a slightly elevated spire, and is com- 
posed of six and a-half or seven whorls, which are 
closely coiled and increase very slowly and regu- 
larly, the last whorl descending a little anteriorly. 
It is very finely and regularly ribbed and decussated 
by fine spiral lines both above and below ; in addi- 
tion the periostracum is raised into deciduous plaits, 
which are especially conspicuous below, and form 


a laciniated fringe round the angular periphery. 
The peristome is white, a little thickened and 
reflexed, while the parietal callus forms a slightly 
raised, scarcely flexuous ridge which is separate from 
both margins of the peristome; the aperture is 
almost round and is without folds. The parietal 
armature consists of a somewhat strong vertical 
lunate plate, its convex side facing the aperture and 


Fig. 29.—Plectopylis stenochila. 


a little deflexed posteriorly at the lower extremity. 
On the anterior side there are, besides two short 
horizontal folds, one above and one below, in a 
line with the two extremities of the vertical plate, 
and between these two folds occur four small 
denticles, the two lower of which are united so 
as to form a double one (see fig. 290). The 
palatal armature consists of six folds: the first, 
short horizontal and near the suture; the second, 
third, fourth, and fifth larger and stronger, parallel 
to each other and descending a little obliquely 
posteriorly ; and the sixth again short, horizontal, 
and near the lower suture (see fig. 294, which 
shows both armatures from the posterior side, and 
fig. 29¢, which shows the inside of the outer wall 
with its palatal folds). The specimen figured is in 
Mr. Ponsonby’s collection, and measures 8 milli- 
metres in diameter. Mr. Gredler has favoured me 
with three additional specimens, which differ slightly 
from the one figured in having only one simple 
besides the double denticle on the parietal wall. 
The species is closely allied in its armature to 
Plectopylis multispira (ante p. 181, fig. 27), but the 
shell is smaller, more raised in the spire, and has 
one whorl less, while it is less shining and trans- 
lucent than that species. On the other hand it is 
also allied to Plectopylis muraia, to be considered in 
a future article. 

Plectopylis laminifera (figs. 30a-c), from Hoo-Pe, 
China, was described by Dr. von Médllendorff, in 
the ‘‘ Nachrichtsblatt der Deutschen Malakazoo- 
logischen Gesellschaft,” 1885, page 164, and figured 
in the ‘‘Jahrbuch” of the same society, xiii. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


(1886), t. 6, f. 1. The shell is somewhat solid, 
disk-shaped, with a conical spire, hornish brown, 
somewhat coarsely and regularly ribbed, and 
decussated with spiral lines above and below, but 
somewhat smoother below, and is widely, deeply 
umbilicated. It is composed of six and a-half 
regularly coiled whorls, which widen very slowly ; 
the last whorl descends a little anteriorly, and 
is angulated at the periphery, which is pro- 
vided with a coarse laciniated fringe. The 
peristome is white, a little thickened and 
reflexed, and the aperture is rounded, without 
armature, while the parietal callus has a raised 
flexuous ridge which is almost united to the 
margins of the peristome. The parietal armature 
consists of a strong vertical lunate plate, the 
convex side facing the aperture and only slightly 
deflexed posteriorly at the lower extremity. On 
the anterior side are found two short horizontal 
folds in a line with the two extremities of the 
vertical plate; midway between these folds is a 
denticle (see fig. 30a, which shows the shell with 
a part of the outer wall removed, exposing both 
armatures from the anterior side, and fig. 30b, 
which gives the posterior view, while fig. 30c 
shows the inner wall separately; all the figures 
are enlarged). The palatal armature consists 
of a small, short horizontal fold near the 
suture, and four stouter and larger, nearly hori- 
zontal folds, descending a little posteriorly (the 
second and fifth being a little longer than the third 
and fourth), and lastly, a short horizontal fold near 
the lower suture (see figs. 30a and b). The speci- 
men figured is in Mr. Ponsonby’s collection, and 
measures 14°5 millimetres in diameter. Mr. 
Gredler has kindly placed at my disposal five 
specimens, only one of which, however, has the 
median parietal denticle; two of the specimens 
measure only 11°5 millimetres in diameter, two 
others 14 millimetres, and one 135 millimetres; 


Fig. 30.—Plectopylis laminifera. 


they also vary a little in the height of the spire, 
some being more flattened than others. The species 
is closely allied to Plectopylis fimbriosa (see ante 
Pp. 179, fig. 24); its nearest ally, however, is 
P. reservata, which we shall have to consider in a 
future paper. 

Several other species of the Chinese group re- 
main to be dealt with, but exigencies of illustra- 
tion again compel me to break into the continuity 
of the series, and to revert to the Burmese and 
Indian species. 


205 


Plectopylis sevica (figs. 31a-c) was described and 
figured in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological 
Society,” 1874, p. 608, t. 73, f. 5, by Lieut.- 
Colonel Godwin-Austen, who first collected speci- 
mens on the peak of Henozdan, Burrail range, 
Naga Hills. Later he again found it abundant 
above 5,000 feet on the same range, as far east 
as the Kopameda ridge. He further states that 
it is essentially a forest species, found in the 
dead leaves and moss. The species was also 


Fig. 31.—Plectopylis serica. 


figured in Hanley and Theobald’s ‘‘ Conchologia 
Indica,” t. 132, ff. 8 and g (1875), but by an 
error the name was printed sericata. The shell 
is dextral, disk-shaped, with a slightly raised spire, 
and is composed of seven narrow, closely-coiled 
whorls. It is of a dark corneous brown above, 
paler below, with narrow, oblique brown bands, 
especially conspicuous below, running parallel with 
the lines of growth. A distinctly angular, raised 
ridge runs a little above the suture nearly to the 
apex, the last whorl being bi-angulated at the 
periphery. It is regularly and finely ribbed, and 
distinctly decussated by microscopic spiral lines. 
The last whorl descends but little anteriorly, the 
peristome is a little thickened and reflexed, the 
upper part of its outer margin being slightly 
inflexed; the parietal callus bears a very slightly 
raised curved ridge, which is united to the margins 
of the peristome, there being only a slight notch at 
the lower junction. The parietal armature consists 
of a single vertical plate, which descends a little 
obliquely towards the aperture; the upper ex- 
tremity gives off on both sides a very short support, 
and at the lower extremity, also on both sides, a 
stronger support, the anterior one being a little 
lower than the posterior one (see fig. 31a). The 
palatal armature consists of five more or less 
oblique horizontal folds; the first is longest, 
flexuous, and descends a little posteriorly; the 
second is horizontal, and bifurcates posteriorly, 
the upper arm straight, the lower descending 
obliquely ; the third, shorter, at first proceeding 
horizontally, about the middle deflecting obliquely at 
an angle of about 100 degrees; the fourth is a little 
longer, ascends a little at first and then deflects 
posteriorly at an angle of go degrees; the fifth 
is shortest, horizontal, near the lower suture and 
parallel to it (see fig. 31d, which shows the 
armatures, parietal and palatal, from the posterior 
side, and fig. 31c, which shows the inside of the 
outer wall, with its palatal folds; all the figures 


206 


are enlarged). Mr. Godwin-Austen (op. cit., p. 608) 
mentions six palatal folds, and his figure shows a 
small one near the upper suture, of which, how- 
ever, no trace is found in the specimen now 
figured, which is from Sylhet, and is in Mr. 
Ponsonby’s collection; it measures 11 milli- 
metres in diameter. I have already alluded to the 
fact that Mr. Godwin-Austen found two vertical 
parietal plates in one specimen (ante p. 204). 
Plectopylis pinacis (figs. 32a-d), from Sikkim, was 
described by Mr. Benson in the “Annals and 


Fig. 32.—Pleciopylis pinacis. 


Magazine of Natural History ” (3), ili, 1859, p. 268, 
and (3), v, 1860, p. 247. The shell was figured in 
Hanley and Theobald’s «‘Conchologia Indica,” 
t. 13, f. 5 (1870), and t. 84, ff. 1-4 (1872), while the 
parietal armature was figured by Mr. Godwin- 
Austen in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological 
Society,’’ 1874, t. 74, {. 1. Professor von Martens 
described what he thought was a new form, 
under the name of Helix (Corilla) fetios, in 
the ‘‘Malakozoologische Blatter,” xv, (1868), 
p. 158, and this was figured by Dr. Pfeiffer in 
**Novitates Conchologicae,” iii, (1869), t. Iot, 
ff. 7-9; the type specimen, which is in the 
“‘Konigliche Museum fiir Naturkunde,” Berlin, 
was obligingly sent to me for inspection by 
Professor von Martens, with permission to open it; 
he suspected that it might probably be the same as 
Plectopylis pinacis, and upon opening the shell this 
proved to be the case, the armature being identical, 
while no differences could be detected in the shells 
themselves. Under these circumstances Professor 
von Martens’ name becomes a synonym of the 
species now under consideration. The shell is 
sinistral, disk-shaped, pale corneous, widely 
umbilicated, finely regularly ribbed and decussated 
by spiral lines, composed of seven slowly increasing 
whorls, the last comparatively wide and a litile 
deflexed anteriorly, and angulated at the periphery; 
the peristome is thickened and reflexed, its margins 
united by the slightly raised, very flexuous, ridge 
of the parietal callus, which has a slight notch at 
the junctions above and below. The parietal 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


armature (fig. 32c), consists of a single strong 
vertical plate, which is strongly abruptly deflected 
anteriorly at the lower extremity, and gives off 
posteriorly a club-shaped support; the upper 
extremity gives off two slight supports, one on 
either side, the posterior one horizontal, and the 
anterior one a little lower, oblique, and very 
short ; a little below the posterior support occurs a 
small denticle: a free, thin horizontal fold is found 
below the vertical plate; see also fig. 32a, which shows 
the shell with a portion of the outer wall removed, 
exposing the parietal and palatal armatures from 
the anterior side, and fig. 32), which shows the 
folds from the posterior side. The palatal arma- 
ture consists of: first, a thin horizontal fold near 
the suture; secondly, a stronger horizontal fold, 
defiexed in the middle; thirdly and fourthly, two 
shorter, but stronger, equal and parallel folds 
descending obliquely; fifthly a crescent-shaped 
fold placed obliquely with the concave side facing 
the aperture (the lower surfaces of these folds are 
seen in fig. 32a, their upper surfaces in fig. 325); 
sixthly, a smaller horizontal fold, which becomes 
attenuated posteriorly (see fig. 32d); two minute, 
elongated denticles, one below the other, and 
placed at right angles to each other, occur 
between the first and second folds, near their 
posterior terminations. The specimen figured is 
from Darjeeling, and isin Mr. Ponsonby’s collec- 
tion; it measures 15 millimetres in diameter. 
A specimen in my collection, also from Dar- 
jeeling, measures 14 millimetres. Mr. Godwin- 


Austen’s figure, quoted supra, shows a short free 
horizontal fold above the vertical parietal plate; 
no trace of this fold can be seen in either of the 
two specimens examined, neither does it occur in 
the specimen in the Berlin Museum. 

Plectopylis nagaensis (figs. 334-d), was described 
and figured in the ‘‘ Proceedings of the Zoological 


Fig. 33.—Plectopylis nagaensts. 


Society,” 1874, p. 609., t. 73, f. 4, by Mr. Godwin- 
Austen, who found the species at Prowi, at the 
head of the Lauier River, Naga Hills, Assam. 
The shell is sinistral, widely umbilicated, disk- 
shaped, with a conical, raised spire, of a dark 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


corneous brown, composed of seven closely-coiled, 
slowly increasing, rounded whorls, the last of which 
descends a little anteriorly. It is finely striated 
and decussated by microscopic spiral sculpture, 
scarcely visibly on the earlier whorls, but more 
apparent below. The peristome is white, a little 
thickened and reflexed; the parietal callus has a 
raised flexuous ridge separated, above and below, 
from the margins of the peristome. The parietal 
armature consists of a strong vertical plate, a little 
deflected posteriorly at the lower extremity, where 
it terminates in a short strong ridge; it has alsoa 
short support a little higher up on theanterior side, 
and another short ridge on the posterior side at the 
upper extremity. Below this plate is a free thin 
horizontal fold, and a little above the middle of 
the plate, a short distance from it, rises a strong 
horizontal plate, which runs parallel with the 
whorl, and descends alittle at the aperture, where 
it is united with the raised ridge of the parietal 
callus (see figs. 33a and b, which shows the shell 
with part of the outer wall removed). The palatal 
armature consists of: first, a thin bilobed hori- 
zontal fold near the suture ; secondly, a stronger 


horizontal fold, with a small denticle at its 
posterior termination (between these folds, in a 
line with their posterior terminations, is a 
minute denticle); thirdly, a horizontal fold, 


descending a little posteriorly, where it is 
slightly notched; fourthly, a similar horizontal 
fold, deflected posteriorly, finally slightly raised 
and notched ; fifthly, a shorter but stronger hori- 
zontal fold with the posterior end more strongly 
deflected and also slightly notched; sixthly, a 
thinner but longer horizontal fold near the lower 
suture, attenuated anteriorly (see fig. 33d, which 
shows the inner side of the outer wall with its 
palatal folds). Between the posterior terminations 
of the fifth and sixth folds is found a very slight 
thin fold extending much further posteriorly than 
the main folds; this may prove not to be constant ; 
it is not mentioned by Mr. Godwin-Austen in 
his description. The specimen figured is in 
Mr. Ponsonby’s collection, and measures—major 
diameter, 11°5 millimetres, minor diameter, 10 
millimetres, axis, 5°5 millimetres. 


(To be continued.) 


ABNORMAL FUNGUS GROWTH.() 


(Qos the last days of October there was 

found in the Jura forests a fungus of the family 
Russula, which presented a very singular peculiarity 
on the pileus, where there grew a little on one side a 
small Russula, as indicated on figs. 1 and 2, strongly 
attached by its stipe and a portion of the rim of its 
pileus. No determined line of demarcation could 


(1) From *‘ La Nature,’’ December 12th, 1896. 


207 


be seen between the two individuals. Both were 
in a perfect state of preservation and were not in 
their first stage of growth; the collar, which would 
have indicated its specific name, had disappeared. 
The gills were untouched, as well as the underneath 
part of the pileus. The rim round the foot of the 
stipe of the smaller individual and the surface of 
the pileus was of alightercolour. A vertical section 
of the two subjects (fig. 4) will show their thorough 
adhesion. 

The tissue of the stipe of the small indi- 
vidual grows directly into the parenchyma of the 


ABNORMAL FuNGuUS GROWTH. 


pileus of the larger specimen. It is difficult to 
explain this singular growth. Has the small Russula 
been accidentally thrown on to the large one, and 
has it by degrees formed one with it through points 
of contact, or has it developed itself completely at 
the expense of the organism which bears it by a sort 
of budding? Or, has a spore of a neighbouring 
Russula found on this pileus a favourable site to 
develop a mycelium out of which would have sprung 
the visible portion of the fungus. Fig. 1 shows us 
the position of the two mushrooms, the small one is 
seen with inferior view of the pileus. Fig. 2 
indicates the position of the two fungi, showing the 
small one sideways. Fig. 3 indicates the position 
of the two fungi; the small one is seen by the superior 
portion of the pileus. We see in a the fungus 
bearer, in b the fungus born, inc the stipe of the 
fungus born, in d the point uniting a portion of the 
rim of the born fungus to the dorsal face of the 
pileus of the fungus bearer. Fig. 4 shows us a 
transverse section of both fungi. In a is the stipe 
of the bearer, b the lamels, c the pileus, d the 
stipe of the born fungus, e the pileus, f the point 
uniting the rim of the side of the fungi born to the 
bearer. 


13 


208 


THE DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION 


(UE contemporary ‘‘La Nature” has just 

published an admirable criticism of the 
decimal system of cataloguing literature as in- 
vented by Mr. Melville Dewey. Thearticle, which 
is by M. Charles E. Guillaume, is so much to the 
point that we have translated it for this magazine. 
He writes as follows : 

The idea which has been conceived by Mr. 
Melville Dewey of grouping all the human know- 
ledge together, and then of sub-dividing it into ten 
successive parts, can be termed practical and odd 
at thesametime. Whyten? Simply in order io 
allow a system of labelling in which each figure 
corresponds with a certain degree of generality. 
This arbitrary division into ten parts excludes the 
idea of a natural classification ; there is no thought 
here of a philosophical creation, but simply the 
practical result to be attained in the rapid classifica- 
tion of publications, either books or papers, collected 
in libraries. Under this form of classification, Mr. 
Dewey’s method could with more exactitude take 
the name of decimal labelling. We are very far 
from the classifications which were attempted by 
Leibnitz or Ampere, or even Auguste Comite. 
These were scientific, while Mr. Dewey’s is solely 
administrative. 

This point of view being clearly established it will 
be agreed that such a process was essential. Scien- 
tific publications are becoming so numerous that it is 
necessary to facilitate the researches oi those whoseek 
knowledge in any matter which specially interests 
them. For want of sufficient indication, which the 
title of a memoir does not always give, one is likely 
to escape many important publications, while one 
loses most valuable time in reading a long memoir 
in order to find the information one is seeking, and 
which is often absent. A figure is often more pre- 
cise than a word, it fixes and setiles the idea better. 

The main object now is to pass by the most 
practical means from the project to its execution, 
to imagine the successive subdivisions which 
Tigorously impose themselves, which comprise all 
knowledge and indicate its proper place without 
ambiguity. This is where the dificulty commences. 
According io countries, individuals, and their 
various methods of thought, the classification 
May vary indefinitely, and the system can only be 
considered good after it has been approved by a 
large number of specialists whose learning em- 
braces the whole of human knowledge. It is quite 
impossible, in fact, to admit that the first scholar 
oi the world, the most learned man that can be 
found on earth, is capable of fixing the details of a 
whole classification, were he even to devote to it 
the best years of his life. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


OF LITERATURE. 


The work of classification must, therefore, be a 
collaborative work, starting from the first division 
and following the lines fixed by Mr. Dewey; then 
proceeding more or less forward with the divisions, 
after the extent of knowledge in the divers branches 
of science is ascertained. 

Specialists and some scientific societies have 
collaborated to the best of their abilities either to 
develop Mr. Dewey’s classification, or to a remanipu- 
lation of his first propositions. The Royal Society ~ 
of London has undertaken part of the work. The 
Société Francaise de Physique, on M. C. M. 
Gariel’s proposition, has done its utmost to advance 
the decimal classification of the special sciences with 
which it occupies itself; but it is not without some 
slight modifications of Mr. Dewey’s work that they 
atrived at a nearly satisfactory classification in 
detail. 

In the New World people do not think as in the 
Old. . Mr. Dewey, in his classification, shows more 
the habits of an engineer than a scholar. He lives 
amongst people where art has not yet found its 
place. To witness this, take one of his classes 
which includes the theatre, the opera, card games, 
riding and fishing—in one word, all that amuses and 
rests one, while one single class is devoted to music. 

This is not said in order to criticise Mr. Dewey’s 
work, but to give its character. 

Let us pass to the detail of his classification. 
The first division comprises the ten following 
classes:—o, General Works; i, Philosophy; 2, 
Religion ; 3, Sociology; 4, Philology; 5, Sciences; 
6, Applied Sciences; 7, Fine Aris; 8, Literature; 
9, History. Each ofthese large classes is sub-divided 
into ten others, reserving always the figure o for 
the most general subjects. Thus No. 50 applies 
itself to Sciences in general, the following number 
serving io specify a grade in the generality. The 
nine classes corresponding to the figures from 1 to 
g after the figure 5 comprise the different sciences 
which are represented by their own special number, 
thus: 51, Mathematics; 52, Astronomy; 53, Physics; 
54, Chemisiry; 55, Geology; 56, Palzontology ; 
57: Biology; 58, Botany; 59, Zoology. 

Let us further go into the matier and iake 
Physics as an example. Under the figures 530 we 
will classify the publication on Physics in general, 
the didactic works, the treatises or dictionaries 
on Physics. Let us now follow the sub-division 
in one of the branches of Physics; heat being 
labelled 536. We will divide it after its nature, 
its effects, its relations with matter, its measure, 
etc. One of its sections bearing No. 6, will 
be calorimetry. We appear already to be 
very forward with No. 536,6; all Memoirs 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


treating of calorimetry will be placed in this 
compartment; but, if you were here to put a 
stop to the sub-division you would have a still very 
confused library under these four figures. The 
specific heats, the latent heats, the combustion 
heats, the instruments of all sorts, scientific or 
belonging to industry, being closely or widely con- 
nected with calorimetry, all group themselves 
under this title; which is still very general. We 
will therefore place the instruments in group 61, 
the determinations of specific heats under No. 62, 
and so on. We do not here exhaust our ten 
figures in order to preserve the nearly logical 
co-ordination of the different subjects. In short, 
as the methods of determinating the specific heats 
considerably differ, according to the state of 
aggregation of the bodies on which you operate, 
there is every reason to create further distinct 
sections, in which to place, in the following order, 
the measures of the specific heats for solids, liquids, 
and gases. Let us recapitulate: we receive a 
Memoir entitled ‘‘ Determination of the Specific 
Heat of Sundry Ordinary Metals.’’ We look over 
the successive divisions, classes, groups, and 
sections, which bring us to its exact compartment, 
proceeding as follows : 


Sciences” - - - - 5 
Physics - - - - 53 
Heat - - - - 536 
Calorimetry - - - 5306,6 
Specific heat - - - 536,62 


Specific heat of solids - 536,621 


Assuredly you could still sub-divide in such 
manner that you should by seeing the figure know 
to which metal the work refers, on which basis 
of temperature the measurements have been 
effected, etc. But in wishing to do too well you 
would infallibly introduce into your classification 
a very great amount of complication. 

It is preferable if you wish absolutely to fix the 
idea, to take the title of the memoir by another 
aspect and find out another grouping which is 
connected with the point left uncertain by our 
first classification, and which in our second will 
attain the required end. You wish, for instance, 
to expose the nature of the bodies on which the 
determination bears. You will then have recourse 
to Class 54, Chemistry, to Group 546, Inorganic 
Chemistry, where you will find metals in their 
proper order. 

You will often need to have recourse to two 
groupings, either to perfectly describe the object 
of the memoir, or to indicate the different questions 
which are treated therein. For instance, a work 
on optical illusion can include independent re- 
searches on the organism of the eye, on the 
chemistry of vision, on judgment and its errors, 
and on many other subjects, without saying in the 


209 


least that the memoir is in any way whatsoever 
written without method. In this case you will 
have to deal with as many classifications as the 
memoir treats of distinct subjects. 

It is difficult to foresee what will be the result 
of Mr. Dewey’s classification. It is just now 
occupying many who show plenty of goodwill 
towards it; some reviews have frankly adopted 
his system, and now start every article with its 
proper figure. It is certainly the best to adopt 
this course, in order to see whether the system 
has any life in it. To sulk against the method 
because it has a few imperfections would be 
quite as unreasonable as to admit it without 
restrictions; or without admitting certain modifi- 
cations that experience will not fail to suggest. 
The best plan isto give it a thorough trial, free 
from prejudice, with the determined idea that some 
new classification is essential, and that the fact of 
Mr. Dewey’s method, though it be partly artificial, 
must not for that reason estrange from him the 
sympathies of those who seek progress. We know 
what has become of all the natural classifications, 
though they emanated from first-class minds. 
Perfection is possible for a very short period only— 
while one only imperfectly sees but part of a ques- 
tion. In a more advanced stage of its study it 
branches out and penetrates into other depart- 
ments. The relationships which were hidden at 
first become more evident; some phenomenon 
which was diminutive in the beginning becomes 
predominant in a group which binds the same 
subjects, and leaves the place it occupied in a 
natural classification. But if you deliberately 
abandon pure logic, the classification has more 
chances for a longer existence to attain its 


end. The idea transforms itself, but the label 
remains. 
DISSECTING EXTRAORDINARY.—The ‘‘ Revue 


Scientifique’’ contains a curious instance of the 
heterogeneous contents of the stomach of an ostrich. 
A bird belonging to a menagerie travelling in 
America was dissected after its death, and the 
following were found in the stomach: the end of 
an umbrella (ferrule with a piece of wood), two 
keys (one of which was five inches long), a lady’s 
comb, two pieces of coal, a silk handkerchief, three 
pebbles, two pieces of a beer-bottle, and a mouth- 
organ. In addition to this, cabbage, grass, lettuce, 
celery and earth. The bird succumbed from 
tuberculosis, not from indigestion as might have 
been surmised. 


THE capacity of the crop of the woodpigeon 
(Columba palumbus) is notable. One recently came 
to our notice that we venture to think is a record. 
It contained 197 maize and 163 grains of wheat— 
a total of 360 separate items. 


210 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


VARIATIONS OF THE LEAF-BLADE. 


IBbie isl, 1By 


qe the botanist the important subject of the 

variation of the lamina, and the cause of 
this variation, will ever possess the highest 
’ interest, from its value in the determination of 
plants; and there is little doubt that warmth and 
moisture in the case of terrestrial plants favour 
the growth of the parenchymatous and vascular 
tissues, as Mr. J. A. Wheldon remarks in his notes 
in the October number, upon the article of the 
above heading. What can be the use of the dense 


GRISET. 


one whole season; it will generally be found that 
the leaves become larger as the warm weather 
advances. Thus on a single shoot about nine 
inches long, on May ist, a leaf was mature, it 
was simply three-lobed, the casta of the median 
lobe being 10 centimetres long (10 centimetres, or 
1 decimetre = 3°93708 inches), (fig. 1) (7). On 
June 2nd, four more leaves had been formed, 
the fifth being deeply five-lobed with a median 
costal length of 15 centimetres (fig. 2); and on 


VARIATIONS OF THE LEAF-BLADE. 


Figs. 1-4, leaves of the fig-tree, Ficus carica ; figs. 5, 6, leaves of the great bindweed, Convolvulus sepium. 


epidermis and mostly entire or solid form of the 
leaves of many succulent plants? Is it not to 
protect the more delicate parenchyma, which in 
membranous and divided leaves would obviously be 
rapidly deprived of moisture in the dry atmosphere 
of the habitats of these plants ? 

In studying the forms of the leaves of the same 
species we are generally led to the conclusion that 
the largest and most divided leaves are produced in 
the most favourable time of the year, which, of 
course, varies with the species. This is well illus- 
trated: if the minute differences in the leaves of 
the fig-tree (1) (Ficus cavica) are carefully noted for 


() This tree, which grew on a garden wall facing the west, 


* 


June -18th, three more leaves were matured, the 
eighth being seven-lobed, with a median costa of 
16°8 centimetres (fig. 3). Of course the other leaves 
formed the gradations between those cited to show 
the striking difference in size and division: the 
shoot had, in the meanwhile, lengthened to sixteen 
inches on eight additional nodes. In the autumn, 
the newly-formed leaves again become smaller, 
stouter, five-lobed and less divided, as seen in the 
typical form at this period, répresented at fig. 4, 


produced a shoot on the trunk which grew thirty-three inches 
in twenty-two days (from June roth to July 2nd), whichis a 
daily average growth of 1°5 inches. 

(7) All my drawings are from the actual objects and correct 
to scale. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


which is the commonly-received idea of the form of 
the leaf of this tree. 

We can conclude from this instance that the 
warmth and dampness of midsummer in this 
tree favours the rapid formation of the tissues, the 
fibro-vascular bundles exceeding in length that of 
the parenchyma in breadth; for as the apex or 
extremity of a leaf is formed first, which is clearly 
decided by its withering invariably before any 
other part, as seen in the leaves of the tobacco 
plant (Nicotiana tabacum, Linn.) etc., the rapid 
lengthening of the mid-rib will produce a broader 
or narrower leaf accordingly as the parenchyma on 
either side is formed more or less quickly. Here, 
only a simple leaf is adduced, but precisely the 
same thing happens in a multicostate or quinque- 
costate leaf like that of the common fig-tree, which 
under these circumstances would become more or 
less divided. 

Want of light decreases the number of chlorophyll 
corpuscules, consequently the quantity of assimilated 
matter, and therefore the formation of parenchyma, 
etc. ; this helps to explain the sub-division of the 
leaves of Solanum dulcamara growing in shady 
places, like the leaf figured on page 61, ante (the 
third pair of lobes are scarcely seen in the figure), 
and also the rudimentary state of the lamina of 
plants growing in the dark. That total submersion 
in the case of aquatic plants tends to sub-divide or 
narrow the leaves, is seen in Vallisneria spiralis, 
Ceratophyllum demersum, several Potamogeton and 
Utricularvia, and the submerged leaves of Callitriche 
verna, the floating rosette of the latter, which acts 
as a peltate leaf in sustaining the weight of the 


STONE-CUTTING 
J53% IDing 12 


CEE ane generally and with strict reference 

to microscopic technique, the volcanic rocks 
of the Borrowdale series in the Lake District may 
be regarded: (1) as rather soft, mostly ash and 
slate; (2) moderately hard; and (3) very hard, 
mostly lava; though some of the altered ashes are 
hard enough. It is with the first class that we have 
here chiefly to deal, and for obvious reasons. If 
we desire to obtain a fresh specimen of a rock, the 
best plan is to collect it from a quarry ; as most of 
the specimens, especially thin pieces, lying loose on 
the mountain sides are more or less decomposed or 
lichen-eaten, and will inevitably prove worthless 
for microscopic purposes. Having selected a piece 
of slate, or, not too tough a bit of ash, say about 
one inch square and as thin as possible, provided 
it is sound, the first business is to grind it flat on 
one side. This is done by means of rasp and file. 
I have two rasps about seven inches and five inches 


211 


plant, are aborate oblong and become narrower as 
we descend on the stem, until the ultimate leaves 
have become linear with notched apices like those 
of Vallisneria. ‘ 

There is no doubt that the round entire form of 
the floating leaves of many aquatic plants are floats 
to buoy the plant to the surface of the water, such 
as those of several species of Nymphaea, Nuphay 
luteum, Brasenia peltata (water-shield of North 
America), Limnanthemum nympheoides, Hydvocharis 
morsus-vane, several Lemn@e, Potamogeton natans, 
(which has sub-eliptic or ovate lanceolate floating, 
and similar but narrower submerged leaves), 
Nelumbium, Ranunculus aquatilis, etc. Great variation 
in size and form is found in the peculiar angular 
leaves of Atriplex patula and Solanum nigrum; and 
the leaves of the great bindweed (Convolvulus sepium) 
vary from the normal broadly hastate form (fig. 5), 
with angular basal lobes, to a longer and narrower 
hastate or sub-lanceolate sub-cordate contour 
(fig. 6); numerous plants with the latter form of 
leaf I found on a shady hedge bank near Willesden, 
There also is a great difference in the leaves of the 
wood anemones growing in dry copses, etc., and 
those of damper habitats ; in the former the leaves 
are much more divided, hairy, compact, deeper 
green and purplish, while the latter one is much 
more delicate, with lanceolate few-toothed and 
but little-ccut segments. It is only by the 
application of the microscope and the united 
observations of botanists that this complicated 
subject will be explained. 


3, Cathcart Hill, Junction Road, 
London, N.; October, 1896. 


IN BORROWDALE. 


. Q. KEEGAN. 


long by half-inch to three-quarter inch broad; 
also a series of small files, coarse and fine. The 
dust raised in the process is considerable, but this 
nuisance can be avoided by wetting the rock and 
files with water, which, however, makes a mess 
even dirtier than before. Nevertheless, we must 
go on until one side of the rock is tolerably flat, 
when we may relinquish the files, and proceed forth- 
withto smooth the faceso flattened. Some fine emery 
powder must be placed on a flat piece of metal, the 
under side of a rectangular tin tobacco-box will 
suit, and having moistened it with water, lay the 
flat side of the rock down and rub very hard witha 
circular motion of the arm. This done, perform 
the same action with the section on a piece of plate- 
glass, using washed emery this time. Lastly, give 
the finishing touch on a hone and a leather strop 
dusted with putty powder. Having well washed 
the specimen free from all particles of grinding 


212 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


powder, see that it has now a lustrous aspect, and the 
crystals of which it is composed are much better 
observed than before. Now take a glass slip and, 
having warmed it, put on some Canada balsam 
and heat all over a spirit-lamp, spreading out the 
balsam carefully so that it shall occupy a space on 
the slip fully equal to the area of the piece of rock. 
Do not heat the balsam to too high a point, or too 
long. When it has cooled somewhat, place the flat 
side of the specimen onit and move it about so as to 
displace all air bubbles between itandtheslip. When 
all is quite cold, proceed to grind the rough upper 
side of the section in pretty much the same way as 
has been described. Rasp, coarse and fine ile, 
emery powder coarse and fine, putty powder very 
fine, such is the order of procedure. As the opera- 
tion continues, by holding the slide up io the light, 
some of the altered felspar crystals will first get 
transparent, it being nearly possible to see through 
them; but do not feel too elated, as the work is not 
quite finished. In point of fact, the most delicate 
and difficult part of the whole process is to decide 
definitely when it is thin enough or otherwise. 
The best finish is a rub on a fine hone moistened 
with paraffin. A good general rule is, that the 
section is thin enough when, on moistening it with 
water, ordinary printed letterpress can be dis- 
tinguished through it. This maxim holds good in 
all cases, except where the presence of much oxide 
of iron or other invincibly opaque mineral occupies 
a very large area of the section. However, we will 
suppose that the operation on the whole has 
been neatly and completely done, and that we 
are bursting with impatience to see what there is 
under the microscope. The finish and mounting 
must be carefully manipulated. Take a large 
camel-hair brush with some clean water, and 
persistently clean away irom the slide every 
particle of dirt or dust; then dry it and de the 
same again, using benzene or xylol this time, so that 
everything may be clear of extraneous particles. 
Be extremely careful not to put turpentine or any 
other essential oil on the section, and do not mount 
it in balsam. The best mounting medium for rocks 
that I know isa solution of gum-dammar in xylol. 
Supposing that a satisfactory mount has been 
accomplished, we can now, with microscopic help, 
endeavour to observe the structure and constituents 
of the rock. A wide-angled half-inch objective is 
very serviceable for this purpose, and let us there- 
fore use it to view a section of a moderately fine 
specimen of a rock which, according to a Fellow of 
the Geological Society, “‘ affords abundant evidence 
in its structure and composition that it was derived 
from a similar source and in a similar manner to 
the beds of recently-formed volcanic ejeciamenia 
which may be seen surrounding the cone of an 
active volcano.” The difference, however, in the 
case before us is, that the rock, as old as the 


Silurian age, has been considerably metamorphosed 
by time and environment, by heat, pressure and 
aqueous agencies. Hence, instead of seeing fresh, 
clear and well-formed crystals of felspar, augite, 
etc., we see now only turbid ones deformed and 
broken, and internally quite changed into other and 
different minerals. Two principal objects are 
observed in the section under review. First, there 
are a large number of whitish turbid forms of an 
approximately crystal shape: these were originally 
clear felspar prisms, but are now deformed and 
broken, with their edges more or less ill-defined or 
irregularly rounded, their relative hardness and 
infusibility, however, preserving them from total 
destruction, notwithstanding that metamorphic 
agencies have transmuted them internally into 
calcite and mica flakes, chlorite and quartz. Along 
with these there are a much smaller number of 
clear chlorite crystals which were originally augite, 
probably black and opaque. Secondly, these larger 
constituents are embedded in a powdery “‘ base” 
whichis much more injured and disordered than they, 
it being very cloudy and composed of a semi-opaque 
heterogeneous powder interspersed with patches of 
green chlorite, dark brown oxides of iron, etc. 
This base represents the fine dust which resulted 
from the destruction by volcanic explosion of the 
softer minerals, such as augite, enstatite, garnet, 
magnetite, glassy residuum, etc., of which the 
original lava was composed; and “we may look 
upon it that the original andesitic and other 
volcanic dust of the rock has decomposed in such 
manner that the augite, etc., gave rise to chlorite 
with garnet, while the felspathic part of the 
mixture was largely altered to mica.” (Hutchins.) 


Paiierdale, near Penrith. 


Bats anp Music.—On more than one occasion 
I have drawn attention in these pages to the 
influence of man’s civilization on wild animals. 
For the past month I have noticed that a common 
species of the small bat, probably the pipistelle, 
which frequents the towns in Southern France, 
congregates in the evenings about those cafés 
where it is the custom to have outdoor music. 
This does not seem io apply to any particular 
town, as they are to be seen flitting about in the 
crowded streets amongst all the trafic in Marseilles, 
Cannes, Nice and Monie Carlo. So tame are some 
individuals that they hawk about for flies under 
the awning which covers the chairs placed on the 
footpaths. It may be said they come for the flies 
attracted by the electric lights, but the bats are far 
more numerous near those cafés where there is 
music than around the ordinary arc-lights im sireeis 
or before shops. The inference appears to be that 
they find pleasure in the presence of music —foin T. 
Carrington, Beaulieu, Alpes Maritimes ; Nov. 21st, 1896. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


213 


SCIENCE A MONOPOLY. 


A= have received the following communication 

from a gentleman well known amongst 
leading geologists, and though we do not hold 
ourselves responsible for his opinions, we largely 
endorse his views, and think they will interest 
many of our readers who look on with amusement 
at the assertiveness of some of our neighbours. 
Our correspondent writes: 

‘‘« Botanical Opportunity’ is the title of Pro- 
fessor Wm. Trelease’s presidential address delivered 
to the Botanical Society of America, and reported 
in full in the September number of the ‘ Botanical 
Gazette.’ As the president addresses himself to 
the large and growing number of young botanists 
who are seeking help and inspiration, and as his 
remarks will apply almost equally well to other 
branches of science, it may be worth while to 
call the attention of your readers to some of them ; 
for instance: ‘ The present is a period of transition. 
A generation ago it was possible to accumulate 
wealth in commerce and also to devote much time 
to the study of nature. To-day the man who is 
not entirely a business man is better out of busi- 
ness, and, witha few exceptions, the man who is not 
entirely a student is little better than a dilettante in 
science.’ The above is the opening paragraph in the 
December number of ‘Natural Science.’ It is, I 
think, a matter of congratulation that the address 
was delivered in America and not in this country, 
and it is a great surprise to me that the Editor 
of ‘Natural Science’ should have endorsed these 
views. It is practically a notice to quit. All the 
students of nature who work at their favourite 
science for the love of it and not as a means of 
obtaining bread and butter, are plainly told that 
their work is useless and their time wasted, and that 
the sooner they leave the field clear for the paid 
officials the better it will be for everyone concerned. 
We shall then have no more ‘Preliminary notices,’ 
no withdrawn papers on the ‘ Protoconch,’ and 
the circulation of ‘ Natural Science’ will be under 
three figures. It certainly seems curious that at 
the very time this periodical is appealing for more 
subscribers that the Editor should deliberately go 
out of his way thus to speak disparagingly of the 
majority of his supporters. 

‘‘Imagine my surprise, when turning to the first 
Paper in the same number of ‘ Natural Science,’ 
to find that in a list of specialists for the deter- 
mination of fossils were the names of several men 
who were not ‘all science.’ This is indeed sad, 
and we hope that when the Supplement is 
published, these names will be erased and those of 
‘professionals’ substituted. Later on we came 
across the name of Darwin, who was a decided 


‘amateur,’ and, therefore, was only a dilettante; 
but it is quite possible he was one of the few 
exceptions. Of course it is also quite possible 
that the American Professor was speaking of 
‘amateurs’ of his own country; but this is quite 
certain, that the majority of the ‘amateurs’ on 
this side of the Atlantic would be ashamed to affix 
their names to many of the Papers published 
by some American ‘professionals.’ ‘ Natural 
Science,’ I believe, appeals to South Kensington ; 
but I am positive that the Editor’s remarks will 
not be accepted by many of his supporters, most 
of whom have on various occasions expressed 
their thanks for help received from ‘amateurs.’ For 
a true estimate of ‘amateur’ work, I will conclude 
by quoting the words of a greater authority than 
even Professor Trelease, or the Editor of ‘ Natural 
Science.’ I refer to the late Professor Huxley, 
who, in an address given to the Quekett Micros- 
copical Club, said: ‘Whoever becomes a man of 
science by profession, must know something pretty 
thoroughly ; and this means that he must not only 
know pretty accurately this or that piece of detailed 
work: he must have not only the knowledge of 
general facts, but must possess the special know- 
ledge also, and be able to guide the one by the 
other, and to criticise his speculations by his 
knowledge of detail—-this is the only title by which 
he can sustain his claim. If he wishes to work out 
any scientific points with accuracy and detail, it 
must be a very small matter which does not occupy 
him for months, and need his closest attention 
during which time he will be drifting altogether 
away from the stream of progress of scientific 
knowledge. But you members of this Club 
(amateurs) are in this respect vastly better off, 
because you can give your attention to any one 
point which you want to get at the bottom of, and 
you are not likely to be pulled up by some student 
in the lecture-room, who has read the latest thing 
published, and who expresses surprise that you do 
not know all about it too. Consequently, you can 
give your attention to your own subject as ex- 
clusively as you may desire. I do not mean to say 
that you do not lose anything, for naturally where 
you have to deal with the deeper problems you will 
never come to any good, unless you have those 
principles to guide you. For three-fourths of the 
problems of microscopy, although you will require 
neatness and skill, clearness of eye and lightness 
of hand for cutting and preparing sections, the great 
amount of general knowledge which a man of science 
is required to have is of noconsequenceat all. Several 
amongst your number have asked me to indicate 
those courses of enquiry which may best be com- 


214 


mended to members of such a society as this, and 
it strikes me that the suggestion which I have just 
made supplies the answer. It is exactly in that 
field—the following up of details, tracing out 
minutie of structure, in occupying themselves with 
such questions as are only to be solved by long and 
patient devotion of time and dexterity, and a 
thorough knowledge of instrumental manipulation 
—it is exactly there that men of science find their 
difficulties, because the amount of time consumed 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


is so great.’ Professor Huxley then pointed out 
that the life-history of most micro-organisms was 
unknown, and urged the members to endeavour 
to remedy this, and added that—‘ This is the 
kind of service which those members of the club 
may perform who feel inclined for it: it is 
work which may be of very great value, and 
which certainly cannot be undertaken by those 
who have to occupy themselves with science as 
a whole.’ ” 


; THE CHANNEL ISLANDS. 


By ALFRED H. BAsTIN. 


1S ged spent a very pleasant holiday last 

July in the Channel Islands, it has occurred 
to me that a few natural history notes I was 
able to make there, might prove acceptable 
to those who have never had an opportunity 
of visiting the Normandy archipelago. They 
may perhaps serve somewhat as a guide to 
others who may purpose going there. The islands 
are reached from England by way of Weymouth 
or Southampton, the latter being the longest sea 
trip, and the one to which the following remarks 
refer. 

Let us then imagine ourselves on the deck of. the 
South-Western Railway boat, feeling the throb 
of the engines beneath us, and, the fresh, salt sea- 
breezes in our faces, steaming down the Solent 
past the Needles lighthouse. Then out into the 
Channel, where the white-cresied billows soon 
cause the good ship to roll slowly from side to side, 
much to the discomfort of some of the passengers. 
If constitutional conditions permit, however, the 
deck is by far the better place. The air is 
glorious, and one does not soon tire of watching 
the dancing, sunlit waves. When these fail to 
interest, there are the gulls, following us mile after 
mile, soaring and circling above the masts, as rooks 
fly round the elm-tops at evening before going to 
test. An occasional cormorant or shag flies swiftly 
past, close to the surface of the water, and ever and 
anon we run unexpectedly into a school of porpoises, 
which amuse everyone by their antics. All is of 
interest to a landsman, from the long, low steam 
cargo-boat, lazily rolling up Channel, to the white, 
sparkling foam, which flies from our bows as we 
forge ahead. When approaching the Islands, the 
Casquets, a group of very bare and bleak-looking 
rocks, are the first to appear above the horizon. 
Next comes Alderney, and shortly after our 
destination—Guernsey. At St. Peter-Port the 
quay is crowded with visitors and harbour officials, 
shouting porters and importunate cab and car 
proprietors, all mingling together amongst the 
heaps of fruit-baskets and the waiting conveyances. 


After a slight delay, the boat comes alongside the 
quay and we go ashore. 

With regard to natural history—first, let the 
Guille Allés museum, situated in the French 
market, at St. Peter-Port, be mentioned. Here 
we may learn something of the local fauna; though 
this institute shares to a large extent the fault of 
so many local museums, viz., the hoarding of large 
numbers of badly-arranged curiosities, which take 
up much valuableroom. The Lepidoptera, though 
small in numbers, are good. From them we learn 
that Argynnis latona, Colias edusa, and C. hyale are 
taken here; also, that there are only four of the 
genus Lycena in the islands—L. alexis, L. argiolus, 
L. agestis, and L. egon. 

Fermain Bay, about two miles from St. Peter- 
Port, is an excellent bathing-place, providing 
the tide is not too high. Ascending the path 
from the beach, one is forcibly struck with 
the extreme clearness of the water here. Ex- 
cepting on the coast of Cornwall, one seldom 
sees really clear sea-water in England. Looking 
over the edge of the cliff, we can distinctly 
see shoals of fish swimming far below, and the 
stones and weeds on the bottom, at a depth of 
many feet. Still ascending the path, we are con- 
tinually dislodging specimens of the currant-moth 
(Abraxas grossulariata); no striking varieties appear, 
however, and we press onward. In all the open 
spaces the butterflies, Epinephele tithonus and Satyrus 
semele, in the hot sunshine, are flying by in 
hundreds from flower to flower. Some E. janiva 
also appear, but not in such numbers. Pvevis rape 
and P. napi are common enough as usual, but 
P. brassice seemed more scarce. Half-a-mile 
farther on we come upon numbers of Bombyx 
quercus, many of which are flying up, down, and 
across our path. Here, too, we find Lycena alexis 
and Polyommaius phigas in seme numbers. At 
Cobo Bay, on the other side of the island, the dry 
rushes and plants growing on the tracts of land 
above high-water mark are literally incrusted 
with shells of Helix virgata and Bulimus acutus. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


There must have been millions of specimens. The 
same thing was remarked at St. Owen’s Bay, in 
Jersey, though in that case the shells were not in 
quite such vast numbers. Some good forms were 
collected from both localities. Helix aspera and 
H. nemoralis are common in both Jersey and 
Guernsey, but H. hortensis, though undoubtedly 
occurring, was not noticed. 

A boat leaves St. Peter-Port two or three times 
a week for Herm. This island is well worth a 
visit, from a naturalist’s point of view, from the 
fact that there, at the north end of the island, may 
be seen a most curious phenomenon, the “shell 
beach.”’ This beach extends perhaps one hundred 
yards or more along the sea front, and is composed 
of innumerable quantities of dead shells, both 
broken and perfect, mixed with fine shingle. It is 
as though the whole of the molluscs, from near 
all the islands congregate off this strip of beach 
when they feel their end approaching, just as 
the guanacos of South America are known to 
have special ‘‘dying-places.” This shell beach 


BRITISH 


By Davip 


M OST persons who have been so fortunate as to 

visit the East or the South, with their 
wonders in vegetable and animal life, have nearly 
always remarked on the number and variety of the 
tropical and sub-tropical fruits. They say, and 
truly, that Britain has very few native fruits, 
compared with those favoured regions. As a 
matter of fact we have very few fruits which, as 
found in our woods and hedges, are worth eating. 
Some believe we have none which are native, and 
that the Romans introduced all our best wild 
fruits. Whether they did or did not, our shrubs 
which bear fruit may now, in most cases, be 
accounted native. 

We have about five native fruits which are 
popular to country dwellers. They are the wild 
forms of raspberry, gooseberry, strawberry, black- 
berry and dewberry, which are fairly good before 
cultivation. The best is the blackberry (Rubus 
Jruiticosus), of which we have about forty sub- 
species, which offer a wide range of sorts to 
hybridise or cultivate. 

The renowned ‘‘ American’’ varieties are nearly 
all from selected plants found growing wild, and 
we might easily improve our own stock. The 
fruits I have mentioned and a few more found 
on mountains, such as the cloudberry (Rubus 
chamemorus), are all that nature has given for our 
use in a fairly good state of perfection, but they 
require the help of man to attain their highest 
quality. Our gardens would indeed have been 


215 


becomes even more curious and interesting when 
one learns by experience how very few dead shells 
are to be found on the shores of the other islands. 
‘One of the most numerous species on this beach— 
and from its shape the most perfect—is Cyprea 
europea. With a little careful searching a good 
series of this shell, fit for any cabinet, may be 
obtained. Other genera are represented in large 
numbers, suchas Rissoa, Phassianella, Evata, Trochus, 
Emarginula, Fissuvella, Dentalium, Patella, Littorina, 
Mangelia, Nassa, and very many others which 
space forbids me to enumerate. 

Sark is well worth a visit for the sake of its 
beauty, if for no other reason. Here one late 
Euchelia jacobe was taken, and hundreds of the 
larve of that species were noticed, in all stages, 
feeding on the ragwort. One or two Lycena 
agestis turned up, and L. alexis, while the three 
“browns” before mentioned were flying all 
over the place. Here was a good clover-field, 
which we watched carefully for Colias edusa and 
C. hyale. 


ER UAGnS: 
S. FisH. 


very poor in fruits were it not for the apple, pear, 
plum, raspberry, red and black currants, and 
cherry, which we owe respectively to the original 
Pyrus malus, Pyvus communis, Prunus domestica, Ribes 
vubvum and R. nigrum, and Cerasus sylvestris or 
Cevasus vulgaris. 

The economy of nature is well shown in the 
degrees of perfection in which we find the fruits of 
various climes. In tropical lands where the heat 
is so intense that little work or culture of the land 
may be carried on, and where animal food must be 
eaten very sparingly, other food is found already 
provided in the shape of rice, bananas, plantains, 
and the many other fruits and vegetables with 
which those lands teem. As we go further north 
the fruits are not so perfect in their wild forms, but 
as the climate is cooler and more bracing, man is 
enabled to cultivate them so as to reach their 
maximum quality: first by growing for some 
generations in a soil rich in substances which are 
specially favourable to free growth and gradual im- 
provement of the species; secondly by hybridising, 
with the object of combining the good and leaving 
out the bad or faulty qualities of both parents; 
thus we attain the greatest possible amount of 
flavour, prolificness, and size of fruit ; and thirdly 
by sports which are freaks from the ordinary form, 
usually caused by special circumstances or elements 
contained in the soil. 

Some fruits change as the plants grow older, as 
in the case of the barberry (Berberis vulgaris), the 


216 


fruits of which on old plants lose their seeds and 
thus gain in quality. The barberry is also pecu- 
liar from the fact that the bushes, after growing 
some years very freely, stop all at once, and 
hardly increase at all in size after this stage, 
though still throwing up suckers. 

As perfection of a fruit rises higher and higher, 
it generally results in an increase of the fleshy 
part of the fruit, or drupe, and a decrease in 
the stone or seed. This is well shown in the plum, 
apple and pear. These fruits are nearly all seed 
when wild, with little of the flesh or edible part; 
but under cultivation the reverse is the case. 
Cultivation results also in a decrease of spines, 
thorns and prickles; for instance, the gooseberry, 
when wild in the woods, is covered with spines. It 
gradually loses them when artificially grown, and 
only recently a French nurseryman announced a 


NODES VOR As EO NEE 


By Mrs. Emity J. CLIMENson. 


* my last notes, page 159, I described some 

anemones I found at Swanage on August 15th. 
I returned to Shiplake on October 1st. Being loth 
to leave my anemones behind, I determined to take 
them home, and write for the artificial sea-salt 
recommended by Mr. Reginald Bennett, in his 
‘‘ Marine Aquarium,” A good deal of the water 
placed with the anemones was spilt on the way, so 
that on reaching home they had to be placed in 
three finger-glasses with a little seaweed and a small 
amount of sea-water. I wrote to one natura- 
list’s shop after another to obtain ‘‘ Southwell’s 
Aquarium Sea-salt,” but was unable to obtain 
either that or the specific-gravity bulbs mentioned 
on page 20, in Mr. Bennett’s book, ‘‘ The Marine 
Aquarium.” The anemones were fed with meat, but 
soon seemed to fail ; the water became malodorous, 
and I was in despair; so on October 25th I threw 
one lot of anemones and periwinkles away. The 
anemones had decreased terribly in size, were 
covered with a thick black slough, and many 
appeared inanimate altogether. It was a deplorable 
spectacle. Before emptying the next lot I thought 
I would give the poor brutes another chance, with 
kitchen-salt and river-water. Hastening indoors 
I suddenly thought that in 1892 my husband had 
bought, at Southwold, in Suffolk, some bath-salt 
from the salt-works. I went to his cupboard to see 
if he had any left, and found some packets. i took 
one calculated for a three-gallon bath, and emptied 
it into a can of hot water. When cool (being very 
salt) I mixed some river-water with it till it tasted 
like ordinary sea-water; I then emptied the 
anemones out, cleaned their glasses, and replaced 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


spineless variety. Two other curious freaks are 
worth mentioning as the result of cultivation. 
These are a white ‘‘blackberry’’ and a white or 
yellow ‘black currant.’ Literally these names 
have no sense, but when anyone speaks of a black- 
berry it brings up to our mind’s eye something 
more than a berry of a black colour—we can see 
the shape, outline, form and arrangement of the 
drupels, but of different colours. Thus, a “ white 
blackberry’ is far more descriptive to us than 
‘‘ whiteberry ’’ would be. 

There are several of our wild fruits which might 
be taken in hand and improved. Some grow on 
the highest mountains, and would need a gentle and 
patient hand to make them feel at home at a lower 
level. Most of our wayside berries are edible; and 
if not palatable to us, they are to the feathered tribe. 

12, Fetites Row, Edinburgh. 


NADURALISS. 


them in this mixture: they immediately began 
sloughing their black fetid skins. I assisted to 
remove them with acamel-hair brush, The next 
day, October 26th, I found them much cleaner, and 
administered some raw mutton. On the 27th they 
had plumped wonderfully, the meat was sucked 
white, and one brown anemone emitted five small 
brown ones, which, whilst I was looking, fastened on 
to a piece of the sucked meat. For a day or two 
meat was given every other day. On November 
1st, I gave them fresh water, all were alive, some 
grown to their original size, others still small but 
healthy. The original seaweed was so bad it had 
to be dispensed with ; I therefore wrote to a young 
fisherman at Swanage, and told him to send 
me some four or five stones with seaweed growing 
on, viz., sea-grass, Entervomorpha compressa, and 
green laver, or Porphyra vulgaris, and also to fill 
up the cigar-box I sent with seaweed unwashed 
from the shore, and, if he found them, some 
anemones and periwinkles. Heé did as I asked, 
but only sent one anemone, a green one with blue 
eye-spots, and the periwinkles were mostly empty 
shells. I rearranged the anemones, some in a new 
white enamel-lined pie-dish, which seems to suit 
them admirably. On November 14th some brown 
anemones were born, one red old anemone seems to- 
be producing one by gemmation at the side. This 
I am watching. I occasionally add a little water, 
mainly from the river, to counteract the extra saline 
which the water develops. Will anyone tell me 
where the articles Mr. Bennett mentions are to be 
obtained ? 
Shiplake ; November, 1896. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


217 


WEED Ran Gy © US EL 


By RoBERT GODFREY. 


iis the thrush family, the ring ousel, Turdus 

torquatus, is the only strictly summer visitor to 
the British Islands. In exceptional cases, solitary 
individuals remain over the winter, but though 
such wintering birds have been found in Scotland, 
none to my knowledge have occurred in the Forth 
area. With us the bird does not put in an appear- 
ance till the end of March, and he makes at once 
for his ancient haunts by the rugged streams and 
waterfalls. He is one of the many birds that 
enliven the solitudes when the heather is again 
springing up afresh to renew its grandeur. The 
ring ousel chooses for his home the desolate hills 
with their many tumbling burns, and the stony 
screes that lie exposed on the steep hillsides. At 
the time of their arrival they are very noisy and 
musical, and by their continual clamouring, afford 
the observer a much better opportunity of esti- 
mating their numbers than they do later in the 
season. Though occurring by the larger streams 
commonly enough, they have a decided preference 
for the smallest and narrowest burns, and for those 
especially with steep and rocky sides, and as they 
fly up and down the streams, awakening rudely the 
still slumbering hills with their harsh notes, they 
seem to be displaying unbounded energy in their 
delight at reaching their nesting-haunts once more. 
It is somewhat difficult to dissociate the ring ousel 
from water, seeing that the stony hill-slopes and 
rock-faces which he so loves to haunt are generally 
close to some trickling stream or other, but in 
districts where the valleys are wider and the hills 
higher than in the Pentlands, and where the 
birds are found most commonly on the stony tracts 
on the mountain sides, the adjunct of water to the 
ring ousel’s haunts is seen to be, in many cases, 
merely a casual detail. 

This bird is brought most prominently into notice 
during the months of April and May, when his 
noisy calling and bold singing force him before our 
gaze. His call-note is a harsh ‘ chack-chack- 
chack-chack,” and his song is a loud, bold, clear 
production, often repeated, but presenting very 
little variation. It may be rendered as ‘‘tyu-wee ” 
or ‘‘ kee-weep,”’ many times repeated. In the wild 
uplands of Dumfries I have heard the bird singing 
as early as 3.46 a.m. on April 16th, which is earlier 
than I have noted the blackbird’s song on the 
lowlands at a corresponding date. Sometimes he 
sings from a leafless tree, but generally he is 
perched on a stone or other simple post on the 
hillside. Besides these main cries of the ring ousel, 
I have noted a repeated cry, somewhat like a 
blackbird’s, uttered when the bird is suddenly 


roused, and another different cry when young are 
being fed. 

In his actions on the ground the ring ousel re- 
sembles a typical thrush, and is, if anything, more 
active than our other common species. He stands 
proudly erect, with his tail touching the ground, 
and displays, to full advantage, the pure white 
crescent on his breast. After a short halt, he sets 
off in his search for food, flirting his wings as he 
starts off, and proceeds, by short stages, over the 
uneven surface of heather, darting quickly at such 
scraps as lie in his way. This movement is a com- 
bination of running and hopping, and when in 
motion he lowers his head and raises his tail clear 
of the ground, and maintains this attitude even 
after halting, until he has picked up some morsel 
of food, when he at once assumes his erect posture. 
When disturbed, he flies off, with harsh calling, to 
a good outpost, and sometimes jerks up his tail 
like a blackbird. The flight of the ring ousel is 
performed with rapid wing-beat and regular break, 
and has a fluttering appearance owing to the light- 
ness of the inner webs of the expanded primaries. 

During the latter half of April the birds may be 
seen hopping in and out amongst the heather, look- 
ing for a suitable nesting-hole, and before the end 
of the month they have not only chosen the site, 
but have in some cases already laid. Such nests 
as I have found on the Pentlands and on the Lam- 
mermuirs have been near water, generally on the 
banks of the small tributary streams that flow down 
side ravines to a main valley. Often the nest is 
placed on a rocky ledge with or without a protecting 
heather-tuft over it, sometimes it is snugly con- 
cealed amongst long heather not far from the 
stream, and less often it is placed on the low grassy 
bank of a less romantic burn. The ring ousel is 
partial to certain stretches of the streams during 
the nesting-season, and selects year after year the 
same rocky face or the same heather-clad slope for 
its nest ; this is very noticeable in some cases, but 
is, of course, far from being the rule, there being so 
many subsidiary purposes at work to prevent its 
being continually carried out. When the nest is 
built on the soft bank of a stream, a suitable cavity 
is first formed by the bird, and the nest itself has a 
very thick muddy bottom, but when a ledge of rock 
is chosen as the site, such a foundation is not 
necessary and the amount of mud is much less. 
The nest is formed externally of pieces of bracken, 
sedge, moss, and rough grass, held together by 
mud; the rim consists of small root-tufts of grass 
with pieces of heather and bracken, and the 
lining consists of fine dry hay—not so fine, how- 


218 


ever, as in the case of the missel-thrush. I have 
found the measurements, in a perfectly new 
nest, to be, inside diameter 44 inches across by 
23 inches deep, and those of a nest containing 
incubated eggs, and found the same day, 4 by 
i? inches. In position, the nest is quite firm and 
strong; but such nests as have been built in 
hollows formed by the birds cannot be removed 
without the bottom portions crumbling off; a 
specimen for a collection must be taken from a 
ledge. The normal clutch of eggs is four, laid at 
the beginning of May; in one instance, I founda 
bird sitting on three. I have seen unfledged young 
in the nest as late as June 30th; but have no 
positive information of a second brood being reared 
in the same season. The eggs are bluish-green in 
ground colour, and are spotted or blotched with 
brown of varying shades. They are generally much 
more boldly marked than blackbirds’. Addled 
eggs are left in the nest. The ring ousel betrays 
little excitement when the nest contains fresh eggs, 
uttering a single cry perhaps as she flies off, and 
remaining silent thereafter; but as incubation 
proceeds, she becomes more and more demonstra- 
tive, and flies in wild excitement about the banks 
of the stream during our presence. Should she fly 
off without being seen, she maintains an almost 
complete silence until the intruder discovers her 
secret, and then displays her alarm. The actions 
at the nest, however, may be best described by our 
choosing a particular case. 

We have reached the side of a large stream on the 
Lammermuirs, and turn aside to a tributary water, 
whose banks are heather-clad and adorned with 
junipers; at parts are naked scaurs by the water- 
side, and our dreams run high of all the rare 
mountain dwellers that these places may attract. 
Presently a ring ousel moves along the bank by 
short flights and disappears in a spot likely enough 
to contain the nest, but she leaves again in restless 
manner and flies off. We retreat a little to take a 
clear view of the supposed haunt, and lie down to 
wait. ‘‘ Chack-chack,” again the ousel comes; she 
is at present perched on a grassy slope a little down 
stream. Slowly she advances towards the scaur, 
quivering her wings and tail very frequently as she 
goes, and at every halt uttering her bold call-note. 
Now she moves along the heathery top of a small 
scaur, enters a hole beneath the heather, emerges 
again and flies to a streak in the scaur like a 
sheep-run; along this the bird hops and runs 
until she reaches at length the same bank in 
which she had previously disappeared. Still 
calling ‘‘ chack-chack,” she flirts her wings 
from her perch, descends the slope a little, halts 
on a patch of grass, then flies to a tuft of 
heather and at her next move silently passes into a 
hole and is at rest. We have her secret now, and 
on rising, cause her toleave her nest. Flying down 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


stream and up the hillside, she alights on a burnt 
stump, from which she will be able, no doubt, to 
follow our actions, and again she calls. We cross 
the stream, and mounting to the spot near the top 
of the scaur, find the nest on a small shelf secreted 
behind a tuft of heather. The bird flies towards 
us, and watching at first from a low tree, comes 
excitedly to us, calling as before, and flirting her 
wings repeatedly from her perch on the heather- 
tufts; she beats backward and forward beside us, 
constantly calling, and when we retire to the 
stream-side she descends to a level with her nest, 
and hops about the scaur ‘“‘ chacking,” and flitting 
in the greatest excitement about the spot where 
her nest was, whilst her mate passes along the hill- 
brow but does not come down to join her. 

The young birds continue to be fed by their 
parents after they have left the nest, and on one 
occasion we were much interested in watching a 
male ring ousel so engaged. Our attention was 
attracted to him as he kept flying about a hillside, 
and after following him fora little we were soon 
able to locate the position of the young. He pro- 
cured the food ona level stretch of pasture near 
the stream, and, flying with it to the slope, ascended 
the heather-face by short stages, approaching ina 
carefully circuitous manner the large heather-clump 
under which the young were safely hidden, and 
suddenly disappeared beneath the heather. The 
crowing noise explained what was taking place, 
and after feeding them the old bird rose suddenly 
through a gap in the heather again and perched on 
its top for a moment, with his breast towards us, 
and the gorgeous white crescent thereon distinctly 
marked against the dark surroundings. Only 
occasionally did he call ‘‘ chack-chack”’ and flirt 
his wings, whilst his mate, less black in hue, 
would answer from an adjoining fence-top; but 
during the feeding another cry, ‘‘ zree-zree,” 
was repeatedly uttered, perhaps by the young. 
After careful watching we crossed the burn and 
found the young resting merely on the ground 
beneath the heather, and heard them as they 
flew off utter the bold call-note of the adult; 
they were well able to fly, and made for another 
sheltering tuft further up the hill. © 

The birds linger in their mountain haunts till 
September, being sometimes seen in companies 
during the first half of the month, and departing 
about the middle of the month. 


46, Cumberland Street, Edinburgh ; 
December 3rd, 1896. 


ASTRONOMERS, we regret to observe, have lost 
two of their leaders. Monsieur Felix Tisserand’s 
death was followed, within a month, by that of 
Herr Hugo Gylden, at Stockholm, on the goth of 
November last. The latter had charge of the 
Stockholm Observatory from 1871. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


21g 


THE “PRINCESS ALICE”) MARINE, RESEARCHES, 


Pein Albert of Monaco, whose deep-sea 

dredgings and other investigations into 
marine zoology and botany are so well-known, 
recently described his third voyage in his specially 
constructed vessel, the ‘‘ Princess Alice,’ before 
the Academy of Sciences of Paris. This 
voyage, however, is the seventh the Prince has 
undertaken at his own expense in the cause of 
science. His Serene Highness left Monaco about 
the end of May last, and the voyage lasted 
until the end of August, comprising two expedi- 
tions, the first in the Mediterranean and the 
other in the Atlantic. In the Mediterranean the 
Prince devoted his attention to the capture of large 
Cetaceans, which have never been properly studied 
in that sea. For this purpose he engaged a master 
whaler from Scotland and proper means for 
capturing these large marine animals. Among the 
specimens secured were a Grampus griscus, ten and 
a-half feet long, and two examples of the Orca 
gladiator, one of which reached nineteen feet in 
length. A whale measuring sixty feet was har- 
pooned and lost. This whale was afterwards 
found dead in the Gulf of Genoa, and the skeleton 
has since been offered to the Prince by the 
Italian Government. 

In the Atlantic, the Prince surveyed and charted 
a bank extending about 150 miles in diameter 
about 350 feet below the surface. The principal inte- 
rest in this expedition centred in the use of entirely 
new types of fishing-gear hitherto insufficiently 
tested in deep waters, such as trellis nets, which 
are generally used on the Mediterranean littoral, 
but at a depth not exceeding 100 feet. These have 
been lowered to 8,000 feet ; from those regions the 
nets in the three first trials produced very interest- 
ing and rare species of fish. By using very long lines 
bearing a hundred or more hooks, lowered as deep 
as 5,150 feet, other fish of equal interest and which 
have not occurred in preceding expeditions were ob- 
tained. Trials with thirty-four dredges and ‘‘eel- 
traps” around the Azores, about 300 miles from the 
Portuguese coast, at a depth of 15,000 feet, have 
given rich results, notably at 4,500 feet, in varied 
specimens of crustaceans and fish. From 12,000 
feet to 15,000 feet produced many specimens of 
Echiderm; one ‘‘trap” left for forty-eight hours 
on a bottom 4,080 feet deep brought up 225 fish 
and sixty-four enormous crabs. 

In the neighbourhood of the Azores the ex- 
pedition captured seventeen turtles; some weighing 
as much as seventy pounds each were captured 
and studied. One was set at liberty with a brass 
medal attached indicating the name of the ship, 
date, and spot where it was thrown back into the 


sea. It is unknown where these reptiles come 
from, or where they go; it is only known that 
they do not breed near the Azores. In his speech 
before the Academy the Prince mentioned a curious 
incident that occurred at the commencement of his 
voyage, while still in the Mediterranean. 

On the 4th and 5th of June a hundred or so 
swallows invaded the ship, visiting the engine- 
rooms, stoke-holes, and laboratories. Eighty were 
counted as having spent the night on board, and 
the next morning they freely took food from the 
sailors’ hands. There were also at the same time 
numbers of birds of other species which remained 
in the rigging during the day, but these were far 
less tame than the swallows. 

The expedition included M. Neuville, the 
prosector and taxidermist to the Paris Museum, 
and Mile. Le Roux as artist. -These expeditions 
made by the Prince of Monaco are of great value, 
as contributing to a better knowledge of the 
Oceanic fauna and flora, being well conceived and 
admirably carried out with a large expenditure 
of money and care. In this case the results have 
borne great benefit to fishermen, who have made 
great hauls on the new bank discovered this year 
by His Serene Highness. 


PopuLarR NAMES OF BriITIsH PLants.—In the 
‘Transactions’ of the Leicester Literary and 
Philosophical Society, Part vi., there is a paper by 
Mr. F. T. Mott, F.R.G.S., on this subject. He 
points out that the popular or English names for 
plants are very unstable. For instance, the Hower 
once called torget-me-not is ground-pine (Ajuga 
chamepitys); hheart’s-ease once meant the wall- 
flower, now it is the well-known pansy which 
goes by this charming designation. There seems 
to be no reasonable explanation of these curious 
changes, sometimes they are due to clerical blun- 
ders, and sometimes to a misunderstanding of 
obsolete or foreign words. Mr. Mott says that 
one of the most complicated name-pedigrees he has 
met with is that which Prior gives as the origin 
of the two names “ yew” and ‘‘ivy.’”’ The two 
plants are not inany way similar. One is a gymno- 
sperm and the other an angiosperm. Yet it isevident 
that their names are derived trom the same source. 
They are both a corruption of the Latin ‘ abiga,’’ 
which was formerly written witha ‘‘u”’ ora ‘‘v.” 
The abiga was a plant called by the Greeks 
‘‘chameepitys,’’ and this in Italy ‘‘abiga,’’ or the 
‘‘black cypress.’’ This black cypress was supposed 
to be the yew, hence the yew got the name ‘“‘abiga ” 
altered in manuscripts to ‘‘ajuga,’’ “ aiuga,”’ 
‘‘jua,’”’ and then into ‘‘yew.” The Greek name 
‘‘chamoepitys’’ was, however, by the early 
English writers understood to refer not to the black 
cypress but to a plant with a similar odour, the 
ground-pine, which also got the name “‘iua”’ from 
“abiga,’’ anglicised in this case into ‘“iva’’ and 
TAY 


220 


Py, * ex 4: —— 
4 <N Ate) cA Ale SN zy ~S 


Lao: 


BOOKS TO READ | 
SAC ls 


NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 


The Cambridge Natural History. Edited by S. F. 
Harmer, M.A. and A. E. Surprey, M.A. Vol. ii. 
Worms, Rotifers and Polyzoa, by several authors. 
560 pp. large 8vo, illustrated by 257 figures. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Sheldon; ‘‘ Thread-worms and Sagitta,’’ by A. E 
Shipley, M.A.; ‘‘ Rotifers,” by Marcus Hartog, 
M.A.; ‘‘Polychaet Worms,” by W. Blaxland 
Benham, D.Sc.; ‘‘Earthworms and Leeches,’’ 
by F. E. Beddard, M.A.; ‘‘Gephyrea and 
Phoronis,” by A. E. Shipley, M.A.; ‘‘ Polyzoa,” 
by S. F. Harmer, M.A. The monographs bring 
the knowledge of their respective subjects to 
synchronize with the latest researches. They are 
not intended to deal with the known species in 
each order, but treat generally with the cycle of 
existence of the groups and their various anatomi- 
cal features. Though perhaps less attractive than 
some other volumes of the series, vol. ii. is by no 
means the least important, for it places at the 


HEADS OF VARIOUS POLYCHAETA (DIAGRAMMATIC). 
From “The Cambridge Natural History,” Vol. ii. 
A, Polynoid ; 5, Syllid; c, Nephtys; p, Eunice; &, Phyllodoce; r, Trophonia; a, prostemium ; 
c, normal cirrus; c!, peristomial cirri; c?, cirrus of second segment; c%, cirrus of third segment; 


el, point of attachment of elytron ;; p, palp; s, nuchal organ (ciliated pit) ; ¢, tentacle; 1., peristo- 
mium; Il., II.,Iv., segments. 


(London and New York: Macmillan and Co., 
Limited, 1896.) 17s. net. 

The new volume of ‘‘The Cambridge Natural 
History” just issued fully maintains the high 
character of the preceding volumes. It is the 
third of the series which has been issued. It deals 
with a group of animals which are little under- 
stood by ordinary readers, although some of the 
aquatic and terrestrial species have latterly com- 
manded considerable attention. The pages of the 
book before us are divided into eight sections, 
which are: ‘‘Flatworms and Mesozoa,” by F. W. 
Gamble, M.Sc.; ‘‘Memertines,” by Miss L. 


disposal of students and general readers a mass of 
information which could not be readily attained 
without considerable research in somewhat scat- 
tered literature. Considering how comparatively 
little worked are some of these groups, the pub- 
lication of this volume cannot fail to give an 
impetus to their investigation. Preceding the 
work is a ‘‘ Scheme of the Classification ’’ adopted 
in the book, in which our readers will find 
some alterations from the older works, but they 
naturally become inevitable with the advance of 
scientific investigation. We are pleased to note 
that, although dealing with technical details, the 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


literary style maintained is similar to that of the 
preceding volumes in the ‘Cambridge Natural 
History’’; it is remarkable for its lucidity, and 
may be understood by quite beginners in the study 
of worms, leeches and their allies. The illus- 
trations have been selected with the utmost care, 
and although sufficient for the purpose of indi- 
cating the meaning of the text, in no part of 
the work do they unnecessarily encumber its 
pages. . By permission of the publishers, we 
have pleasure in reproducing a couple of figures 
as examples. 


The Story of the Chemical Elements. By M. M. 
Pattison Muir, M.A. 189 pp. small 8vo, with 
two illustrations. (London: George Newnes, 
Limited, 1897.) Price ts. 

This is the last published of the ‘‘ Library of 
Useful Stories,’ some of which we have previously 
had the pleasure of noticing. It deals in a popular 
manner with some of the commonest phenomena 


221 


but apt to be irritating, and will surely deter many 
from proceeding with the investigation of the 
quaint legends and statements of early writers, as 
set forth by the Rev. Mr. Watkins. Most of the 
gleanings in this book are familiar to classical 
scholars, but they are none the worse for being 
re-told. Others there are, less commonly known, 
and the whole forms a pleasant series of chapters, 
marred only by the disappointing result of straining 
too far after the antique, which is likely to give 
those who read aloud an habitual lisp when 
reading ‘‘thefe femi-claffical {tudies.”’ 


Extevioy and Interior Photography. By WILLIAM 
MILs, F.R.M.S., 68 pp. royal 8vo, illustrated by 
4 plates. (London: Dawbarn and Ward, Limited.) 
Price 3s. net. 

This work will be fully appreciated by many 
photographers, especially amateurs, who may find 
within it numerous valuable suggestions, especially 
upon the difficult art of taking satisfactory pictures 


SABELLARIA ALVEOLATA, L. VENTRAL VIEW OF ANTERIOR REGION X I0. 
From ‘The Cambridge Natural History,” Vol. ii. 


a, Notopodial cirrus; b, notopodium; c, neuropodium; ch, peristomial chaete; d, neuropo- 
dial cirrus; m, mouth; Pp, multifid palp (gill filaments) ; p!, ridges after removal of gill filaments; 
s, ventral (tubiparous) gland-shield; vr, tentacle; 1., hood formed by peristomium; 1. to vI., 


following segments. 


around us as produced by physical change in but 
few elements. The little book is well written, and 
cannot fail, like others of the series, to make many 
people wiser about some very common things. 


Gleanings from the Natural History of the Ancients. 
By the Rev. M. G. Watkins, M.A. 258 pp. 8vo. 
(London: Elliot Stock, 1896.) No price given. 

The euridite compiler of some quaint chapters, 
pleasant to read, has narrowly escaped spoiling an 
otherwise nice book by the affectation of intro- 
ducing into the typography the old-fashioned letter 
“f” for our now familiar ‘‘s.””’ When the modern 
reader finds pages of old-style with which he is not 
familiar, he soon tires of the reading. For in- 
stance: ‘‘ All {cholarly fifhermen know that charm- 
ing idyell of Aufonius on the Mofelle,” is antique 


of indoor views. The illustration given of the Nave 
of York Minster is good, the lights and shadows 
being well blended. The view of an interior of a 
room is also satisfactory; far more so than the 
usual attempts to picture such difficult subjects. 


Diagrameites for use as Students’ Notes and Sketches. 
By W.H. Knicut. (London: Chapman and Hall.) 
Price Is. 

This is a series of diagrams with explanatory 
information upon hygienic subjects, ranging froma 
country cottage well to the evils of tight-lacing and 
badly -shaped boots. Much time and evident 
attention have been expended on these diagrams 
which cannot fail to impress many people with the 
necessity for attention to simple necessities for 
sustaining good health. 


222 


= 
aS 


MepiuMs FOR MountTine.—1 wenty years ago, or 
thereabouts, when I was working at microscopy, a 
difficulty was experienced in finding a medium 
wherein certain objects, such, for instance, as palates 
of mollusca, would not be completely overpowered, 
as it were, with light ; that is, were made so trans- 
parent that their proper form could not be distin- 
guished when magnified. Canada balsam was then 
almost only used; and gum dammar, which made 
matters worse, was just beginning to come into 
fashion. The general law of microscope vision that 
‘‘ an object becomes more distinctly visible the more 
itsrefractive power differs from that of the medium in 
which it is mounted”’ was then, if not actually for- 
mulated, at least practically recognized by mounters, 
professional or otherwise. In most cases there was 
no other resource but to mount the object dry, 
which of all other means is at once the most diffi- 
cult and the most unsatisfactory. Judge then of 
the delight which thrilled the microscopical worker 
when somebody in Belgium (I think it was Dr. 
Van Heurck) proposed the use of gum styrax asa 
mounting medium in connection more especially 
with diatoms. Its index of refraction when pure is 
1°6 (Canada balsam is only 1°540), and that of the 
silica of diatoms, etc., is 1°43, so that the difference 
is pretty wide. The principal value and strength 
of styrax as a mounting medium consist, so I have 
always thought, in enabling objects to be mounted 
therein which previously had to be mounted dry. 
Thus palates of mollusca, scales of butterflies 
and moths, various anatomical and physiological 
objects could now be seen with a clearness and 
convenience never before attained. I never saw 
anything more approaching what might be termed 
micro-real vision than a piece of broad-leaved 
meadow-grass which had been prepared by mace- 
rating in water, alcohol and benzine, successively 
for some days; and then mounted in styrax and 
viewed with its epidermis carefully focussed under 
a French 4-inch objective of N.A. 0°64, the con- 
denser used being the Abbe of N.A. 1-4 with the top 
lens removed and a piece of optically-worked blue 
glass placed beneath the diaphragm. Styrax is 
recommended also as a medium for wood sections, 
insects and the like; also for rendering visible the 
nucleus of vegetable cells previously stained with 
hzemotoxyn. I have found it exceedingly useful 
for displaying the bordered pits of coniferz in 
radial section after staining in logwood ; in fact, I 
know of no other medium which shows them as 
well. For some other objects, however, it is use- 
less ; for example, striated muscle. If you cannot 
mount muscle in glycerine, by all means use a 
mixture formed by dissolving ‘fiddlers’ resin” in 
oil of bergamot, which is about the least refractive 
of all mounting media; this will enable you to see 
the striz almost as well asin glycerine. A solution 
of fiddlers’ resin in oil of juniper, filtered through 
cotton-wool stuffed loosely in the neck of a glass 
funnel, is an excellent medium for many purposes ; 
it has a pasty flow which makes it work very 
pleasantly, keeps perfectly limpid, and gives very 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


good definition. A considerable ‘“ puff” or a big 
“fillip’’ came over from the United States not 
longago. A certain Dr. Edwards, of Newark, N.]J., 
in a note to ScizENcE-GossiIpP, extolled the merits of 
GunThis as a medium for diatoms, etc.—I have 
not as yet seen this article for sale in the catalogue 
of any London dealer, but I have seen it in those 
of two north-country dealers, as sold dissolved in 
bisulphide of carbon. Has any reader ever tried 
it? Ifso, let us know what is thought of it, for the 
benefit of science. Some twenty years ago a tough 
and hale out-door naturalist of the old school 
admonished me to beware of mounting in Canada 
balsam delicate spicules of organic carbonate of 
lime, such as are found in the Echinodermata. I 
have never forgotten the advice. Even some very 
delicate dermal plates of Cucumaria drummondzi, 
which I mounted twenty years ago in dammar 
solution (not nearly so corrosively acid as Canada 
balsam) are just now beginning to go—the lime 
is gradually being eaten away, leaving, however, 
the pure organic matter of the same form and 
pattern as before, though of course much more 
transparent, being a warning that the ideal 
medium for mounting is still to be discovered. 
—[Dr.] P. Q. Keegan, Patterdale, Westmoreland ; Sep- 
tember, 1896. 


PREPARING HyDRA FOR THE MICROSCOPE.—To 
kill Hydra in an extended condition does not appear 
so easy as the text-books would lead one to expect. 
One biological authority states that it may be 
killed ‘‘ in a fairly extended condition” by the 
slow addition of alcohol to the water containing it, 
but in my hands the results by this method have 
never been worth the trouble of permanent 
preservation, and bear but little resemblance to the 
living organism. Another microtomist writes that 
it is easily killed in an extended condition by 
running a drop of osmic acid under the cover-glass. 
This method also, after patient trial, failed to give 
me anything approaching a resemblance to life, 
though useful enough when only sections were 
wanted. A few weeks ago, having made a great 
haul of Hydva on a pond-hunting excursion, I 
decided to try a number of narcotizing agents in 
the hope of discovering one that would give me the 
animal in very nearly the extended state it 
assumes in life. Hydrochlorate of cocaine, so 
valuable with the Hydvozoa was useless, however 
cautiously applied, the Hydva gradually contracting 
as the narcotizing proceeded. Chloroform at first 
seemed promising, but when it had associated 
sufficiently with the water to reach the animals 
they rapidly commenced to retract. Chloral 
hydrate simply induced maceratien, though giving 
fairly extended specimens. At last mono-bromide of 
camphor was cautiously applied to a specimen in 
an extreme state of extension, and with pleasure I 
noted that narcotization was being effected without 
the least contraction of the tentacles. When 
irritation failed to produce retraction the specimen 
was killed and fixed with osmic acid, and a perfect 
mount was obtained after several dozen failures 
with all kinds of re-agents. Mono-bromide of 
camphor is but sparingly soluble in water, and 
the first attempt made by adding a crystal to the 
water containing the Hydva was fruitless owing to 
the length of time the drug occupied in dissolving. 
A saturated solution, made by boiling crystals ina 
test-tube, is the best method of use. a little of the 
solution being added to the water containing the 
organisms to be narcotized —George T. Harris, 33, 
Lindovre Road, Wandsworth. 


—_—~ ee eee 


——— eee 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


‘ 
7 i 
i ae | a ¢ 


EMMA Le 
= SSS aN | 


CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 


Position at Noon. 


Rises. Sets. A, 
Jan. Am. hm. hm. Dec. 
Sun co ceo FY ETDS Gon CD) JOHNS Goo OTD) Boy BS el Sp 
1 on BHO) sss 4.21 - 19.59 ... 20° 38/ 
OTe eAYs eee 4.39 tee ZO:4ilese LOS LOY 
Rises. Souths. Sets, 
Moon ... 7... 10.4 aM. ... 3.39Pp.M.... 9.29 p.m. 
0G) oe PANO VOHING opti 7223) asooe 
27... 316a.m. ... 8.6 am. ... 10.48 
Position at Noon. 
Souths. Semi TAP. 
h.m. Diameter. hm. Dec. 
Mercury... 7... 1.27p.m. ... 3" 5 P2037 eee LOn LOGS. 
I7 ... 0.52 atte Y/ Ry 20:4 be On Ze 
27 ... 11.26a.m. ... 5’ 0 205 OHH ons 1ye) sey 
GEIS con Gon Seb TOG oe HG sae 22.13) wee 122 40! 'S. 
1G or See/ 5 Of 2 Ben 2255 Ol Se 
Oy orn 38) ..10" 0 ono PRED aco BS ZGY/ 
WS os GF xo O40) . 6" 9 4.41 ... 25° 16/N. 
T7pecst O40 6" 3 con dlcels) cso BS? CY 
Oe ooo ue BPD) soe) 4-42) «-« 25n LO! 
Jupiter ...17 ... 2.59 a.m. ...19" 7 LOT Ol ee O parE OIN 
Saturn 17... 7-59 naa: coe AY) con! I GEV Sh 
Uranus ...17 ... 7.48 iG) eee 5:44. LOn 32h to. 
Neptune...17 ... 9.18 p.m. ... 1" 2 5-0 eee 2 204Ni- 
Moon’s PHASES. 
hm. hm. 
New ... Jan. 3... 6.3 a.m. ist Oy. ... Jan. 10... 9.46 p.m. 
TOUS be op, 283) coo (G/DL, BAO oon | oy 2G) con CLS) TOLealL 


Sun.—Spots may still be expected to be few 
innumber and small in extent ; yet, notwithstanding, 
many are very interesting objects. 


Mercury cannot be said to be well placed for 
observation this month, owing to its great southern 
declination, even though it reaches its greatest 
elongation, 19° 8’ east of the sun at 7 p.m., on 
January 6th. On January 22nd, at 2.0 p.m, it is 
in inferior conjunction with the sun. 


Venus is daily improving in position, setting 
about 3h. 4om. after the sun at the beginning of 
the month. 


Mars is fast decreasing in apparent diameter, 
but remains in capital position for observation. 


JUPITER may now be observed late in the 
evening, rising at 9.11 p.m. on the Ist, and about 
two hours earlier at the end of the month. 


SATURN, rising about 4.25 a.m. on the rst, and 
about four minutes earlier each morning, can only 
be seen for a while before dawn. 


Uranus is not far from Saturn, only farther 
south, and so is also ill-placed for study. 


VARIABLE STARs to be be observed in January, 
are :— 


R.A. Magnitude. 
; hm, Dec. Max. Min. Period. 
I (Sew oS Gan EH) aS INI (6h) eA) 
eGR 6.56 20°45’ N. 3°7 4'5 tod. 3h. 47m. 
(36s. 
@ Canis Maj. (Sirius) 6.39 16°32’S. 1 aS 
Oar. ;; 6.49 24° 5’S. 4 : 


* The ancients call this star Red, and compare it with 
Mars and Antares; it is now white. 


{ Is this star variable in colour and magnitude? It is now 
red, and much less brilliant than O? which follows it. 


Pips: 


NEPTUNE is a very unsatisfactory object except 
with very powerful'instruments, and then shows 
no detail; but it is still placed well for observation. 


Meteors should be looked for on January 2nd 
specially, also 21st and 31st. Did any of our readers 
observe the brilliant meteor at a little after nine 
o’clock on Sunday night, November 29th? 


A New Comet was discovered in the con- 
stellation Vulpecula, on November 2nd, by Mr. 
Perrine, at the Lick Observatory. It was visible 
only as a faint nebulosity, with a 12th-magnitude 
nucleus, with the fifteen-inch achromatic at 
Edinburgh Royal Observatory. When discovered 
it was in R.A. 2oh. 2om., N. Dec. 25° 7’, its motion 
being towards the south-west, passing very close to 
Altair, the 1st-magnitude star in Aquila. Accord- 
ing to Dr. Otto Knopf, of Jena, the perihelion will 
be passed February 8'1294 Berlin mean time. 


THE YERKES OBSERVATORY will soon have its 
great telescope ready for use. The great object- 
glass, 418 inch clear aperture, 61 feet focus, 
weighing by itself 515 lbs., and with its cell, etc., 
nearly as much again, is now finished. Without 
the rest of the telescope this magnificent object- 
glass will have cost something very nearly like 
£21,000. 


Sir1us, who now brightens our long evenings with 
his lustre, was discovered, so long ago as January 
31st, 1862, by Alvan Clark, with a 19°07-inch 
achromatic, to have a 1oth-magnitude companion, its 
position-angle being measured by Chacornac as 
85° 1’, and its distance 10’’"4. It must be very 
large—large enough to shine as a ist-magnitude 
star, or it would not exert so great an influence onits 
brighter companion. Its position and distance were 
measured, on October 24th, 1896, as 189°, 3''°81, 
by Professor Aitken, at the Lick Observatory. 


Procyon, the 1st-magnitude star in Canis Minor, 
was long ago suspected to have a dark com- 
panion, because of the irregularities in its proper 
motion, and now we learn that, at the Lick 
Observatory, Professor Schaeberle has discovered 
a companion of the 13th-magnitude, position 318°, 
distant 4''-6. 


M. Lorwy, long on the staff of the Paris 
Observatory, has been appointed its director, in 
succession to the late M. Tisserand. 


Dr. BENJAMIN APTHORP GOULD.—Astronomy has 
sustained a severe loss in the death of Dr. Gould, 
at Cambridge, Mass., on November 27th. Bornin 
1824, he founded the Astvonomical Journal in 1849, 
and edited it until 1861, when the Civil War 
brought about asuspension of its publication. He, 
in 1866, by aid of the newly laid Atlantic Cable, 
was the first to determine the difference in longitude 
between Europe and America. He went to the 
Argentine Republic in 1870, and accomplished 
excellent work, for not only did he compile a 
catalogue of the southern stars, and map a con- 
siderable portion of the same heavens, but also 
built the national observatory at Cordova, and 
organised the work in the country, establishing a 
number of stations in connection with that centre. 
Harvard University bestowed upon him the degree 
of LL.D. on his return in 1885, and later 
Columbia College conferred a similar degree. The 
Doctor resumed the publication of the Journal and 
has accomplished other good work. He has now 
passed away in his seventy-third year. 


224 


Shi. a Ls ; = IS 
Ms S 4 mi “A » Me mj ify 
(arin Dr UML, 1! av Pe MU, SWFA ASS 


Mr. Remy Perrier has lately studied the 
holothurians found by the ‘‘ Talisman ’’ expedition ; 
the material being in the Museum of Paris. These 
animals were found inhabiting immense depths in 
the ocean. He has examined 354 individuals of 
nine different genera, two of which are new to 
scienice. . 


Dr. THomas APPLETON, Science Secretary of the 
Fulham Society of Literature, Science and Art, has 
asked us to inform our readers that the Society will 
be very pleased to welcome any of them to the 
Lecture on Birds, by the Rev. J. W. Horsley, on 
January 7th, to which reference was made ante 
page 195. No tickets will be necessary. 


GeEoLoacists who find difficulty in naming some 
of their specimens, will find in the December 
number of ‘‘ Natural Science’ a list of specialists 
in various groups who are willing to assist them ; 
these include authorities on most sections, but help 
is still required, as we no not see in the list anyone 
to advise on trilolites, belemnites or Paleozoic 
brachiopods. 


Tue oldest known pear-tree in Europe has 
succumbed to one of the recent storms. It grew in 
a garden between Toulon and Vilette du Var. It 
was known to have been planted nearly six hun- 
dred years ago, in the reign of Queen Jeanne, 
whose name it bore. This venerable tree measured 


twelve feet in circumférence at the middle of the 
trunk. 


In consequence of the difficulties raised in some 
quarters against the use of acetylene, on November 
23rd last there met in Paris a number of those 
interested in its manufacture, who formed them- 
selves into ‘‘The Société Technique de 1’Acety- 
lene,’’ for mutual protection, which will include 
those who manufacture the carbide and the by- 


products; also the larger consumers of this splendid 
ight. 


ACETYLENE gas, described in ScrENcE-GossIP, 
(N.S. vol. i, page 278), is rapidly becoming a 
recognized illuminant. It is now manufactured 
in large quantities in Switzerland and other 
parts of Europe, and at Niagara. The calcic 
carbide, from which it is produced, is delivered for 
private consumption in convenient carriers, and we 
have lately seen in France an inexpensive and 
admirable gasometer for generating acetylene gas 
for private houses. 


THE seventieth anniversary of the veteran guide, 
Almer, was recently celebrated at Grindelwald, who 
has made upwards of one hundred ascents each of 
the Jungfrau, the Mcench, the Eiger, the Wetterhorn 
and the Schreckhorn. Almer was the first to climb 
all these heights excepting the former. He is the 
only person who has made the descent from the 
Meench to the Wengernalp. There is not a single 
mountain in Oberland, the Valis, the Grisons, 


Savoy and Dauphiné whose summit he has not 
reached. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


In the November issue of SciENCE-GossiP (page 
164), an error appeared from some unexplainable 
cause, to the effect that Mr. Edward Wilson, 
F.G.S., was ‘‘the curator of the British Museum.”’ 
It is hardly necessary to say that it should have 
read Bristol Museum, to which institution he has 
written a guide. 


THERE died at San Remo, in December, in his 
sixty-third year, the celebrated Swedish engineer, 
Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite and smoke- 
less gunpowder. Originally comparatively poor, 
Nobel commenced business as a chemist and 
engineer with a capital of £160, and has died 
worth over two millions sterling. He was com- 
paratively unknown to the general public. His 
last important invention was for the manufacture 
of artificial silk with a form of guncotton (celluloid) 
as its basis. 


Aw instance of the effect of electric light upon 
the increased vigour of plants is notable in the 
public gardens at Nice, where the grass is renewed 
each year from seed. Those blades in the imme- 
diate neighbourhood of the large electric lamps are 
not only larger in size, but brighter green in colour. 
The seeds of this grass are usually planted in the 
middle of October on perfectly bare ground ; the 
former crop having succumbed to the intense 
sunshine of July and August. Within a month of 
sowing the whole gardens are brilliantly green, and 
it is at that period one first sees the difference 
beyond the reach of electric rays. 


Tue first annual report of the Moss Exchange 
Club has been issued to members, and shows a good 
record of work done during the first year of its 
existence. More than 2,000 Mosses and Hepaticze 
were distributed among its twenty-five members. 
The next exchange will take place in March. 
Mosses may be sent in to be named as specimens for 
exchange, and in this way the Club will prove useful 
to beginners, as well as to those who desire to have 
help with difficult and critical species and varieties. 
New members can still be enrolled, and should 
communicate with the hon. secretary, Rev. C. H. 
Waddell, Saintfield, Co. Down. 


Royat Institution. — The following are the 
lecture arrangements before Easter :—Professor 
Silvanus P. Thompson, six lectures (adapted to a 
juvenile auditory) on Light, Visible and Invisible ; 
Professor Augustus D. Waller, twelve lectures on 
Animal Electricity; Professor Henry A. Miers, 
three lectures on Some Secrets of Crystals; Dr. J. 
W. Gregory, three lectures on The Problems of 
Arctic Geology; Professor Percy Gardner, three 
lectures on Greek History and Extant Monuments ; 
Professor W. Boyd Dawkins, «three lectures on 
The Relation of Geology to History; Mr. Carl 
Armbruster, three lectures on Neglected Italian 
and French Composers; Mr. Walter Frewen Lord, 
three lectures on the Growth of the Mediterranean 
Route to the East; and the Right Hon. Lord 
Rayleigh, six lectures on Electricity and Electrical 
Vibrations. The Friday evening meetings will 
begin on January 22nd, when a discourse will be 
given by Professor Dewar. Succeeding discourses 
will probably be given by the Right Rev. the Lord 
Bishop of London, Professor Jagadis Chunder 
Bose, Professor John Milne, Dr. G. Johnstone 
Stoney, Lieut.-Col. C. R. Conder, R.E., Mr. Shel- 
ford Bidwell, Professor Arthur Smithells, Sir 
Edward Maunde Thompson, Sir William Turner, 
Mr. Charles T. Heycock, the Right Hon. Lord 
Rayleigh and other gentlemen. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


REPRODUCTION OF LOST LIMBS IN Birps.— A 
correspondent writes to ask if there are any cases 
on record where it has been known that birds have 
reproduced lost limbs, 7.e. toes or the whole foot, 
in the same manner, for instance, as a lizard is 
known to reproduce a lost tail. 


Bic Funcus.—Mr. Barbour’s big mushroom 
reminds me that two months ago Mr. A. J. Cook, 
of Upper Norwood, brought to me a large 
spheroidal fungus which grew in his garden 
and which weighed just a trifle under two and 
a-half pounds. The exact circumference was not 
taken, but it could not have measured less than 
24 inches.—Edwd. A. Martin, 69, Bensham Manor 
Road, Thornton Heath. 


Fossil FERN AT GIANT’s CausEWway.—More 
information in regard to this interesting note is to 
be hoped for. Can Mr. Barbour give particulars 
of some sort? I do not think it could have been 
a true fossil. Did it resemble any ferns now 
growing in the locality? Possibly a wind-blown 
specimen left an impression of itself as it decayed. 
Did it appear like this at all? Presumably the 
honeycomb is made up of basaltic (igneous) 
columns, in which, of course, no fossil remains 
can be found.—Edwd. A. Martin, 69, Bensham Manor 
Road, Thornton Heath. 


PUBLICATION OF LocALITIES. —I know the neigh- 
bourhood referred to by Mr. Carrington so well, that 
without referring to his note in ScIENcE-GossiP, I 
could find his locality at any time, and I must 
confess I entirely agree with Mr. F. R. Rowley’s 
remarks on page 194. In regard to butterflys, it 
may perhaps be of interest to your readers to know 
that the Selbourne Society is issuing a leaflet by 
Mr. Kirby, entited ‘‘A Plea for the British 
Butterfly,” a copy of which I would post to any 
one desiring it.—Edwd. A. Martin, 69, Bensham 
Manor Road, Thornton Heath. 


PATERNAL AFFECTION IN WILD Birps.—On May 
17th, 1896, I saw three young starlings in a wicker 
cage, on the lawn at the back of a country hotel 
in Essex. The birds were nearly full fledged, but 
the hen parent bird kept flying down from the 
trees on either side, and feeding them through the 
bars of the cage. After a time the cage was moved 
indoors, and the anxiety of the parent bird was 
really pitiable, as she flew backwards and forwards 
across the lawn with a grub in her bill, looking for 
her young ones, who kept answering her call from 
indoors and whom she could plainly hear through 
the open window. I have never seen a more lively 
expression of anxiety and grief shown in a bird. 
So long as she was allowed she came to feed her 
little ones, totally regardless of myself and several 
other persons, accompanied by a lively terrier or 
two, who watched her at three or four yards dis- 
tance. I was assured by a native that if parent 
birds are allowed to feed their captive young too 
long in this manner, finding they cannot get them 
away, they will bring as food poisonous berries. 
and so kill them in despair. As I could not per- 


225 


suade the owner of the cage to carry out the 
experiment for a consideration, and let me have 
the dead birds for dissection, I have not been able 
to prove this assertion ; but I should be pleased to 
hear if any of your correspondents can offer any 
evidence for or against it—F. W. Halfpenny, 
Forest Gate. 


ORCHIS MACULATA.— Varieties of this orchid 
exhibit not only various forms in the middle lobes 
of their labella, but also remarkably in their tints, 
and especially in the markings themselves. From 
near Godstone, in Surrey, I obtained last year, a 
specimen which I could not resist the temptation 
of plucking ; it measured six inches from the base 
to the appex to the spike of flowers, and bore, so 
far as I am able to judge from the dried specimen, 
forty flowers.—Edwd. A. Martin, 69, Bensham Manor 
Road, Thornton Heath. 


OrcHis Macurata.—Dr. Bryan’s remark, ‘A 
complete classification of all the varietal forms 
occurring in this variable plant would form 
a pleasant task for a summer vacation,” reminds 
me of an excursion I once took with ‘The 
Natural History Society of Hemel Hempstead,” 
in the month of May, 1882. We drove to Ayot 
St. Laurence, and on returning to Hemel Hemp- 
stead, about a mile from that place, drove through 
Lammas Park; it consists of a considerable extent 
of dead-level grass land, and scattered over this 
land were patches of over an acre in extent 
purple with millions of Ovchis movio. The sun 
was setting, and the ruddy purple light reflected 
from them was a sight I shall never forget. 
The party immediately descended and gathered 
a considerable quantity. I collected samples 
of the following: common purple, dark inky 
purple, pale lilac and pale flesh-colour (more rosy 
than purple), also three (these I took with the 
root) of a very pale yellow with green veins. I 
forwarded them to Rey. Harpur Crewe, who 
remarked he had never seen the true white one 
before. I hope I shall not offend any keeper of an 
‘‘Old Curiosity Shop ”’ by divulging the locality to 
‘all and sundry’’; but should this be so, it may be 
some consolation to him to know that, when young, 
I was told that ‘‘ black sheep’’ measure less, not 
more than white ones. I have collected all my life, 
and never kept a good locality for an insect or 
plant secret—Bernard Piffard, Hill House, Hemel 
Hempstead. 

DERIVATION OF ‘‘CLEAT.’’—Referring to Mr. 
Roberts’ query as to the derivation of the word 
‘cleat’ (p. 165, of your November number), the 
words ‘‘clot,”’ ‘‘clote’’ (Anglo-Saxon, ‘‘clate’’) are 
applied to two other plants, the burdock and yellow 
water-lily, as well as to the coltsfoot (see ‘‘ Hunter's 
Encyclopedic Dictionary’). ‘‘Clate” is also 
applied to a piece of iron worn on the shoes of 
horses and country people, and is probably the 
origin of the word ‘‘clout”’ (Dutch, ‘‘cluit,” “clout” 
—a clod or lump). From a quaint book I possess, 
published in 1579, and entitled ‘‘ Bullein’s Bulwarke 
of Defence against all sicknesse, soarnesse and 
woundes that doe dayly assaulte mankind,’ I ex- 
tract the following part of a dialogue: ‘‘ Marcellus: 
What say you of Ungula cabellina or Tusstlago ? 
Hilaring (the gardener): It is called Ungula 
cabellina, ye is horshoue, because no herbe is 
liker, but the Greekes call it Bechion, which is 
Tussilago, ye is to help ye cough. It is comonly 
known, some call it clot-leaves: whyte on the one 
syde and greene on the other side, and groweth 
near waters and in fallow lands,’” etc., etc. I 


226 


should think that Cleat Hill, Bedford, may be 
merely ‘hill of clods,” unless there are many 
burdocks thereabouts, in which case it may be the 
‘hill of burs’’ (German, ‘‘ kleete,” a bur), hence, 
perhaps, ‘‘clate,” ‘‘bur,” ‘‘cleate,” as applied to 
the coltsfoot, is clearly horseshoe (see ‘‘ Miller’s 
Dictionary of English Names of Plants”’).—M. J. 
Teesdale, St. Margaret's, Thurlow Park road, Dulwich ; 
October 27th, 1896. 


IRON EMBEDDED IN Ivory.—In Sheffield recently 
while workmen were sawing an elephant’s tusk of 
unusually fine ivory, further progress was suddenly 
arrested by a hard substance which, on examination, 
proved to be a portion of an iron spear which was 
completely embedded in the centre of the tusk. It 
is supposed that, when quite young, the animal 
was struck by a spear which was broken in two at 
the root of the tusk, the growth of ivory, in course 
of time, surrounding it. The bit of spear, about six 
inches in length, is very rusty, and must have 
remained in its curious resting-place for a great 
number of years. The tusk is in the hands of 
Messrs. T. Cooke, and Son, Museum Street, 
London. 


NITELLA GROWING IN AguaRiIuM.—It is often 
remarked that while Chara flourishes sufficiently 
well floating free in a small aquarium, Nitella 
gradually dwindles and dies. This is more 
unfortunate because the latter is far superior for 
exhibiting circulation of the protoplasm, always so 
much appreciated by the friends of a microscopist, 
or at soirée. I have, however, had Nitella growing 
successfully for eighteen months in an aquarium 
holding about a pint of water, and in one slightly 
larger it fruited during this summer. All that 
seems neccessary to ensure this result is that some 
of the lower portion, say two or three nodes, should 
be inserted in, and covered by the sand and shingle 
it is desirable to have at the bottom of the vessel, 
where roots are soon produced giving the plant the 
attachment which appears requisite for its well 
being. Of course if an entire specimen with roots 
complete, as described in Dr. Cooke’s ‘‘ Ponds and 
Ditches,” can be secured and accommodated it is 
better, but that is not always possible, and takes 
considerable space.—James Burton, 9, Agamemnon 
Road, West Hampstead. 


Microscopic SLtipEsS—We have received from 
Ernest Hinton, of 12, Vorley Road, Upper Hollo- 
way, London, preparations of Bryozoa. The first 
is Bugula turbinata, which has been killed with the 
polypes fully expanded as in life, a most lovely 
example, either with direct light or paraboloid. 
The other is B. flabellata; in this every trace of 
animal matter has been carefully removed, leaving 
only the glassy polypidom with its ‘“ bird’s head” 
processes, the result is one of the most gorgeous 
polariscope objects that it is possible to imagine, 
the colours even without selenite are beautiful. 


YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS. — The Yorkshire 
Naturalists’ Union have just issued Part 20 of their 
‘« Transactions.” It contains some interesting notes 
on the Lepidoptera and Coleoptera of Yorkshire, 
and the Presidential Address for 1895 on the *‘ Study 
of Mosses,” by Mr. Robert Braithwaite, Presi- 
dent of the Union. Mr. John McSandesborough, 
F.R.A.S., F.R.Met.S., etc., and Mr. Alfred E. 
Preston, M. Inst. C.E., F.R.Met.S., havecontributed 
an Appendix consisting of ten tabulated sheets, 
giving the Meteorology of Bradford during the 
years 1891 to 1895. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Se : 


THE SoutTH LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND 
NaturaL History Society.—November, 26th, 
1896. Mr. C.G. Barrett, F.E.S., Vice-President, 
in the chair. Mr. Barnett, of Royal Hill, Green- 
wich, was elected a member. The meeting was 
devoted to a special exhibition of varieties, and 
was largely attended. Mr. Mansbridge showed 
series of Abraxas grossulariata, including the Leeds 
smoky forms; of Polia chi, including var. suffusa 
and var. olivacea, with the beautiful West Riding 
form ; and of Hibernia auvantiavia with many melanic 
forms. Mr. Oldham, Brenthis (Argynnis) euphrosyne, 
with few markings on upper wings in contrast to 
well-marked hind-wings; a xanthic Epznephele 
janiva, and pretty-coloured and yellow females of 
Odonestis potatoria. Mr. Adkin, the various forms 
of Boarmia vepandata; Camptogramma bilineata, in- 
cluding black Irish specimens; B. cinctaria and 
Thera junipevata, with beautiful specimens of Cidaria 
corylata var. albocrenata ; Abvaxas grossularviata ; black 
Acidalia marginepunctata; black-banded Eubolia 
bipunctavia ; banded Anaitis plagiata; and uni- 
colorous Ematurga atomavia. Mr. Mitchell, speci- 
mens of Saturnia pavonia (carpini), (1) dark female, 
(2) gynandromorphous form, bred from Wicken ; 
and an example of Chrysophanus phleas, with large and 
elongate spots nearly forming a band. Mr. Doll- 
man, a series showing the variation of O. potatoria ; 
a dwarf Anthrocharis cavdamines; and an example 
of the same species with the dark tips of the 
primaries suffused and extending inwards. Mr: 
Ashdown, a series of Coccinella hievoglyphica, 
varying from entirely testaceous, through spotted 
forms to entirely black, all from Oxshot. Mr. 
Barrett, series of the following species from very 
many localities: Melanippe hastata, M. tvistata, M. 
fluctuata; Boarmia vepandata (including some very 
fine black forms) ; Eupithecia togata (including the 
very dwarf race), E. extensavia, E. sobrinata and E. 
stevensata. Mr. Auld, the first known bred British 
Callimorpha hera var. lutescens; series of Spilosoma 
lubvicipeda with its var. zatima and var. fasciata, 
together with a number of intermediate forms; a 
broad-banded A. plagiata; and vars. of Dicycla oo, 
Spilosoma urtice (without dorsal spots), and Lomas- 
pula marginata. Mr. Levett, vars. of Callimorpha 
dominula, bred from Deal, three 6f which were the 
yellow forms. Mr. Mera, three vars. of Avctia caja 
(1) with inner half of fore-wings almost completely 
white; (2) with white markings of fore-wings only 
slightly indicated ; (3) white almost covering fore- 
wings, and black on hind-wings much diminished ; 
a Cidavia siterata, pale brown with paler lines, 
reminding one of C. reticulata; Hadena thalassina, 
with absence of usual markings, and of an almost 
uniform smoky grey; an Arctia villica with smoky 
hind-wings, and one with black suffused over all the 
wings; and a Brenthis (Argvnnis) euphrosyne with 
confluent spots across the centre of both wings. 
Mr. Turner, the most distinctive forms of Hibernia 
leucopheavia, Gnophos obscuraria and Oporabia dilutaria ; 
a Caenonympha typhon, with a series of well- 
developed ocellations and a large white patch 
on the upper side of the hind-wing, from 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Carlisle; and on behalf of Mr. Wilkenson, of 
Carlisle, a very variable series of Melitza auvinia 
(artemis) including several good aberrations. 
Mr. H. Moore, exotic Orthoptera, including (z) 
Loscusta peregrina from several localities, showing 
great variation in density of colour; (2) Pachytylus 
migratovius var. cinerascens ; (3) along series of Edipoda 
fasciata, from many places, and varying with the 
soil upon which it rests; and some ten species of 
American (CEdipodide. Mr. T. W. Hall, con- 
spicuous varieties of the following species: Avrctia 
caja (one almost black secondaries); Spilosoma 
lubricipeda (one of var. zatima taken at Wicken) ; Sesia 
culiciformis (yellow-banded), Polia xanthomista (var. 
statices) ; Demas coryli (banded) ; Mamestra persicanie 
(unicolorous black), Xylina conspicillavis, and many 
other species. Mr. Frohawk, his fine series of 
undersides of Enodia (Epinephele) hyperanthus 
varying from extreme var. arete to the beautiful var. 
lanceolata; and vars. of Papilio machaon, including 
a very dark tawny form bred from Wicken. 
Mr. Tutt, his specimens of Melampias melampus 
and M. pharte upon which he bases his opinion 
that they are only forms of one species, and his 
series of the hitherto supposed distinct Cenonympha 
iphis and C. satyrion. Mr. Dawson, a dark male of 
Dryas (Argynnis) paphia somewhat approaching var. 
valezina of the female; Shetland forms of 
Camptogramma bilineata; a var. schmidtit of Chry- 
sophanus phlgas; and a Teniocampa incerta with 
much intensified transverse lines —December roth, 
1896. Mr. C.G. Barrett, F.E.S., Vice-President, in 
the Chair. Mr. Step exhibited the ‘‘ pen” of the 
squid, Loligo vulgaris. This species is common on the 
Cornish coast, but the pen is never found on 
the shore as is the shell of the Sepia. No doubt 
the Loligo meets its death by being eaten by some 
large predaceous fish, and the soft pen would be 
more or less assimilated. The squid is much 
used as bait for conger, and is caught very 
cautiously with pilchards as bait. He also 
exhibited specimens of the crabs Xantho incisus 
and X. hydvophilus. Mr. Brooks, a very long series 
of Acherontia atropos, bred from pupz obtained 
at Long Sutton this year. One specimen was 
much lighter on one side than on the other, it 
was suggested that a deficiency of fluid in the 
wings through injury was the cause. He also 
exhibited a very long series of Triphena fimbria, bred 
from larve collected near Rotherham. Many 
specimens were light and only very few of the dark 
form. It was stated that the colour variation was 
by no means sexual and tended to follow the 
parent colouration. Mr. Mansbridge exhibited a 
long and very variable series of Agvotis auxiliavis from 
North America, taken in 1893, and read a paper on 
the exhibit, describing the forms of variation, life- 
history and distribution of the species. Mr. 
Barrett, two specimens of Agvotis subgothica, said to 
have been captured by Raddon, of Barnstaple, and 
also forms of A. tritici of the var. subgothica. A 
discussion ensued in which it was conclusively 
proved, by reference to Doubleday and others, that 
the bona fides of Raddon could not be relied on. 
Mr. Adkin read an addendum to his previous paper 
on Triphena comes (orbona), giving more detailed 
evidence of the occurrence of the species and its 
var. curtisti in various localities. He also exhibited 
some Shetland forms of Camptogramma bilineata, 
one having a dark fascia, broad and complete, with 
a pale central blotch. Mr. Dennis, microscopic 
slides, showing the striking distinctions between the 
antenne of Hybernia auvantiavia and H. defoliavia.— 
Hy. J. Turner, Hon. Report. Sec. 


227 


Royal METEOROLOGICAL SociETy.—Themonthly 
meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday 
evening, the 16th inst., at the Institution of Civil 
Engineers, Mr. E. Mawley, F.R.H.S., President, 
in the Chair. An interesting paper, by Dr. Leigh 
Canney, on the ‘‘ Winter Climate of Egypt,” was 
read by the Secretary. ‘‘ The climate of Egypt 
during the winter is influenced,’’ he stated, ‘‘by 
the Libyan Desert, by the Mediterranean Sea, and 
by the extent of cultivated land.’ Theauthor gave 
the results of a series of observations which he had 
carried on during the past three winters. The 
observations were started with the object of 
arriving at a comparative knowledge respecting 
the climates of the various stations now considered 
as health-resorts in Egypt, and by a strictly com- 
parable method to arrive at the precise differences 
between the climates of Upper and Lower Egypt, 
all previous observations having failed in this 
respect. The stations at which observations were 
made were Cairo, Helouan, Mena House Hotel, 
Luxor, Assouan, Valley of the Tombs of the Kings, 
and the crest of the Libyan Hills. As self-record- 
ing thermometers and hair hygrometers were used 
at each station, valuable data has been obtained 
on the diurnal variation of temperature and 
humidity. Mr. R. H. Curtis also read a paper 
on ‘‘An Attempt to determine the velocity equiva- 
lents of wind forces estimated by SBeaufort’s 
scale.’”’ The author has compared the anemome- 
tric records at Scilly, Fleetwood, Yarmouth, and 
Holyhead, with the wind forces as estimated by 
the observers at the same or adjoining stations, 
and has by this method obtained a satisfactory 
table of velocity equivalents in miles per hour for 
the estimated forces by Beaufort’s scale. 


NortH Lonpon NaturaL History SociETY.— 
Thursday, November 26th, 1896. Mr. L. B. Prout, 
Vice-President, in the Chair. The curator an- 
nounced a donation to the society’s collection of 
Lepidoptera from Mr. Prout, including Scotosia 
vhamnata, Pevicallia syvingavia, Cosmia affinis, Taenio- 
campa populeti, Thyativa devasa and T. batis, from 
Epping Forest, and Sesia tipuliformis and Agyrotis 
nigricans from Dalston. Mr. Austin had taken a 
walk in Epping Forest on the 14th inst., and 
recorded the following birds: blackbird, robin, 
golden-crested wren, long-tailed tit, great tit, blue 
tit, wagtail (? species), chaffinch, starling, jay, jack- 
daw, rook and pheasant, also three squirrels in 
Monkwood. He had noticed an unusual profusion 
of berries, particularly holly-berries and hips and 
haws. Miss M. E. Robinson mentioned that she 
had a singing mouse at home. She thought the 
curious noise produced by this animal was probably 
caused by some pulmonary affection. Mr. C. 
Nicholson, F.E.S., was elected President for 1897. 
A discussion subsequently took place on ‘“‘ The 
Planet Jupiter.”-—Lawrence J. Tvemayne, Hon. Sec. 


City oF LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History SociEty.— Tuesday, December, Ist, 1896 
(Annual General Meeting). Exhibits: Dr. J. S. 
Sequeira, a specimen of Catocala promissa, taken 
in the New Forest, having the upper wings of 
the rich dark-brown frequently occurring in its 
congener, sponsa. Mr. Bacot, a short bred series 
of Trichiura crataegi and Orgyia gonostigma. A short 
discussion ensued as to the double-broodedness of 
the latter in nature. The election of Council for 
1897 having been accomplished, Mr. Nicholson 
read the Treasurer’s account (in the absence of Mr. 
J. A. Clark) and the report of the Secretary; both 
statements were duly adopted. Mr. J. W. Tutt 


228 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


then read his presidential address, dealing with the 
philosophical aspect of Entomology, variation in the 
colours of insects, speculation in Entomology and 
other interesting topics.—C. Nicholson and L. J. 
Tremayne (Hon. Secs.) 

CoNcHOLOGICAL SocizETy (LONDON BRANCH) .— 
On November 6th, the first Meeting for this winter 
was held at Walham Green, by invitation of 
Mr. William C. Smith, when a pleasant evening 
was spent in examining Mr. Smith’s collection of 
shells. The most noteworthy specimen was 
Tellidova burnetti (Brod. and Sow.), a curious 
flattened bivalve from California. The Rev. J. W. 
Horsley exhibited, on behalf of Mr. A. G. Stubbs, 
a very fine series of Helix virgata (from Tenby), 
comprising almost every known variation of this 
variable shell. On December roth, Mr. S. J. Da 
Costa very kindly invited members to view his 
magnificent collection. One evening was quite 
insufficient to see all the varieties it contained. We 
particularly noticed the very fine series of Bulimus 
and its allies (chiefly from Central America), 
including several type specimens and many rare 
shells. There were also excellent sets of Cochlostyla, 
Amphidromus, and West Indian Helices. Among 
the marine shells the brilliant examples of Pecten 
and Cypr@a were much admired. Besides these we 
noted some beautiful Ptevopoda, a collection of the 
curious Mollusca which inhabit Lake Tanganyika, 
and a very pretty series of the quaint Opisthostoma 
from Borneo.—/J. E. Cooper, 93, Southwood Lane, N. 
(Hon. Sec.). 

Tue Greenock Natural History Society held its 
annual meeting at the end of September, and it is 
satisfactory to find the interest in Natural Science 
is so active in the district that the continued success 
of the Society seems likely to continue. The address 
of the Secretary is Mr. G. W. Niven, 23, Newton 
Street, Greenock. 

THE first meeting of the Royal Meteorological 
Society for this Session was held on Wednesday 
evening, the 18th November, at the Institution of 
Civil Engineers, Great George Street, Westminster. 
Mr. W. Ellis gave an account of the proceedings 
of the recent International Meteorological Con- 
ference, which was held at Paris from September 
17th to 23rd. The Hon. F. A. Rollo Russell read 
a paper on ‘‘Haze, Fog, and Visibility.” Haze, 
he says, is most prevalent when the wind is from 
the north-east, and is probably due to excess of 
dust brought about by conflicting currents. 


NOTICES OF SOCIETIES. 


THE SoutH Lonpon ENToOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History Society. 
Jan. 14.—Mr. Step will read a paper, ‘‘Some Marine 
Mimics’; and Mr. Hewett will read a paper, 
“The Tephrosias,” with a very large exhibit. 
Jan. 28.—Annual Meeting at 7. 


Nortu Lonpon Natura History Society.— The following 
are amongst the fixtures for next session: 
Jan. 2,—Fifth Annual Exhibition. 
14.—Presidential Address. 
», 28.—Short Papers on 1896. 
Feb. 11.—Discussion on ‘‘Overcrowding and its Remedies.” 
Opened by L. J. Tremayne. 
Mar. 27.—Visit to the Epping Forest Museum. 
Apr. 8.—Discussion: “ The Filices or Ferns.” Opened by 
R. W. Robbins. 
May 13.—‘‘ My trip to Highcliffe, and what I found in the 
Barton Beds.” J. Burman Rosevear, M.C,S., 
» 15.—Whole-day Excursion to Brentwood. 
» 27.—‘‘ Dorsetshire Notes.” J. Wheeler, M.C.P. 
June 4-7.—Excursion to the New Forest. 
» 10.—Debate: ‘‘Is Vivisection Justifiable?” 
» 19.—Half-day Excursion to the Lea Valley. 
There will also be a special-family discussion entitled, 
“The Liparide,” to be opened by Mr. A. Bacot on some date 
not yet fixed.—Lawrence J. Tremayne, Hon. Secretary. 


NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 


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Notice.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including 
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MaRINE Shells from Loyalty Islands, Australia, and else- 
where, also New Zealand ferns (dried), in exchange for 
marine shells not in collection; send lists.—L. Shackleford, 
14, Edna Street, Crumpsall, Manchester. 


A rew examples of Petricola pholadiformis, Lamk., from 
Herne Bay; desiderata, other rare British shells.—A. S. 
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‘(QUEKETT JOURNALS,” Moore’s ‘‘ Hepaticz,” O’Meara’s 
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Co. Down. 

SLIDES, minerals, polished corals and sponges, fossils, 
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OFFERED, SCIENCE-GossIP, 1885-87, 1890, 1892, Slack’s 
‘““Pond Life,” small collection of polished agates, etc. 
Wanted, micro. slides, etc.—William Gomm, Overndale 
Villa, Downend, near Bristol. 


WANTED, a type collection of British grasses, old works on 
the gramincz, and to exchange grasses.—G. O. Benoni, 


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A guanTity of micro. slides for exchange; photo lens or 
offers requested.—A. Draper, 179, Cemetery Road, Sheffield. 


Gannet skin, micro. slide labels, parasites in spirits and 
other named unmounted objects. Wanted, British insects, 
pinned or carded, or offers.— Chas. J. Watkins, King’s Mill 
House, Painswick, Gloucestershire. 


I witt send selection of each of following in exchange for 
one micro. slide: spines (brittle starfish), foraminifera sand, 
spines (Echinus) and nautilus on seaweed.—Borrows, 18, 
Pensbury Street, Darlington. 

Mrs. CARpPHIN, M.C.S., 52, India Street, Edinburgh, offers 


many good recent shells, and some fossil ones, for exchange; 
send lists of offers and desiderata. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


229 


THE MANNA OF THE ISRAELITES. 
By M. We TEESDALE. 


N arecent botanical work of authority (1) occurs 
the following passage: ‘‘It should be mentioned 
that the manna sent to the Israelites on their 
journey out of Egypt to the Holy Land is identical 
with the lichen described here and figured on page 
695, and the older view that the manna of the 
desert was the sap of a tamarisk (Tamarix gallica- 
mannifeva) exuded under the influence of a parasite 
is without any foundation.” 
The lichen thus positively asserted to be iden- 
tical with the manna of Scripture (see Exodus 


stones, preferably on small fragments of limestone » 
the outer colour of the crust is a greyish yellow, 
while on breaking it appears as white as a crushed 
grain of corn.” The Algerian specimens in the 
Cryptogamic Department of the Natural History 
Museum are smaller than the Asiatic, and are 
of a reddish colour, probably borrowed from the 
soil on which they are rolled about, as_here- 
after described. ‘‘As they get older the crusts 
become rent, and separate either partially or 
wholly from their substratum, to which they were 


Fig, 1.—TuHe EpisLe LICHEN, THE ALLEGED MANNA OF THE ISRAELITES, AND ALLIED SPECIES. 


a, Lecanora esculenta, Pall; b, Lecanova affnis, Ehr.; c, Lecanora affinis, Ehr. (section showing dichotomous growth); 
d, Lecanova tartarea (brought in shiploads from Sweden under the name of Swedish moss, and used in the making of the 


blue dye ‘‘Litmus” or ‘‘ Lacnius”; grows also in the Canary and Cape Verde Islands); 
f, Lecanora fruticulosa, Ehr. (section showing concentric growth). 


xvi. and Numbers xi.) is described in the same 
work as consisting of three species, spread over an 
enormous region in South-West Asia and extending 
as far as the south-east of Europe and the north 
of Africa. It was first observed by the celebrated 
naturalist and traveller, P. S. Pallas, in 1769, in 
the deserts of Tartary, and was named Lecanora 
esculenta, Pallas (fig. ra); it is alsoknown as Sphero- 
thallia esculenta, Nees. ‘It forms,’’ says Professor 
Kerner, ‘‘thick, wrinkled and warted crusts on the 


(1) “The Natural History of Plants,’ from the German of 
Anton Kerner von Marilaun, Professor of Botany in the 
University of Vienna. Translated and edited by F. W. 
Oliver, M.A., D.Sc., Quain Professor of Botany in the 
University of London. Vol. ii, p. 812. 


FeBRuARY, 1897.—No. 33, Vol. 3. 


e, Lecanova fruticulosa, Ehr.; 


only lightly attached by root-like fringes. When 
they first become loosened the edges of the de- 
tached portion become somewhat rolled back. The 
rolling then continues, and ultimately the loosened 
piece forms an elliptical or spherical warted body, 
with a very much contracted central cavity... . 

As a rule the hole is filled with air, and when 
dried the pieces weigh very little. It is easy to 
see that the loose portions will be rolled about by 
the wind, and that a storm will sometimes sweep 
them up from the ground and carry them hither 
and thither through the air. In rainy seasons the 
manna-lichen is also washed by rivulets into the 
depressions in the Steppes, and in some years in 


230 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


such quantities that they form heaps a span high, 
and one man can in a day collect four to six kilo- 
grammes (about 12,000 to 20,000 pieces, varying in 
size from a pea toa hazel-nut). This is especially 
the case in the Steppes region and in the high lands 
of South-West Asia, where the manna-lichen is used 


Fig. 2.—TAMARIX GALLICA.—Shrub. 


as a substitute for corn in years of famine, being 
ground in the same way, and baked into a species 
of bread. All the great so-called rains of 
manna, of which news has come from the East to 
Europe, occurred at the beginning of the year, 
between January and March, 7c. at the time of 
the heaviest rains.”’ 


inches. Gédbel analysed these, and believed them to 
have been carried by electrical winds from distant 
localities. He believed it to be Parmelia esculenta 
(another synonym of Lecanora esculenta), anativeofthe 
Steppes and the districts between the Caspian and 
AralSeas. In 1829, during the war between Persia 
and Russia, there was a great famine in Orumiah, 
south-west of the Caspian. One day, during a 
violent wind, the surface of the country was covered 
with a lichen which ‘fell down from heaven.” 
The sheep immediately attacked and eagerly 
devoured it, which suggested to the inhabitants 
the idea of reducing it to four and making bread 
of it, which was found to be good and nourishing. 

In the spring of 1841 there was an astonishing 
fall of the same substance near Lake Van, in the 
east of Asia Minor. It covered the ground three 
or four inches in depth. The pieces were of the 
size of hailstones, grey in colour and pleasant to 
the taste. A white meal was prepared from them 
which provided a rather tasteless bread. 

In January, 1846, at Jenischehir, in the west of 
Asia Minor, and the surrounding districts, during 
a time of famine, a similar fall took place. It 
lasted some days, and the pieces of lichen were of 


In an article in the ‘‘Gardeners’ Chronicle” for 
September, 1849, it is stated that this lichen springs 
up with great rapidity after rain on the Khirgiz 
Steppes and in Central Asia, and it is mentioned 
that accounts had then recently been received of 
the fall—as it were from the skies—of prodigious 
quantities in one night in the neighbourhood of 
Erzeram, in Armenia. It is added that Parrot 
brought specimens collected in the beginning of 
1828 which were said to have descended from the 
skies in some districts of Persia, and to have 
covered the ground to the depth of five or six 


IX GALLICA.—TITee. < 


the size of hazel-nuts. They were ground into 
flour, the bread from which was pronounced little 
inferior to wheat bread. Another account says 
that the manna was of a greyish-white colour, 
rather hard and irregular in form, inodorous and 
insipid. 

In the year 1847 a report was made by General 
Jussuf, the Commander of the French troops, to the 
Governor of Algiers, on the subject of an edible 
lichen spread over a large portion of the Sahara 
and the Algerian plateaux, which he said had 
‘been a sustenance to the troops during the 


—~ eee 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


campaign, especially as provender for the horses. 
It was named Chlovangium jussufii, Link., but is 
identified by lichenologists as Lecanova esculenta, 
Pall. 

On the whole there is no doubt that this curious 
natural product has been food for both men and 
animals in the several countries where it has fallen, 
but it is said that the sheep in Algiers do not thrive 
upon it, and no doubt it contains in its composition 
very slight nourishing properties. Sir Roderick 
Murchison, the geologist, wrote in the ‘‘ Gardeners’ 
Chronicle’ for August 13th, 18€4, as to specimens 


Fig. 4.—TAMARIX GALLICA. 
Flowering Branch. 


of manna-lichen—sent to him by the Austrian. 


Internuncio at Constantinople—which fell with a 
gust of rain at Charput, north-west of Diarbekir, 
Asia Minor, that the specimens contained more 
than sixty-five per cent. of oxalate of lime, with 
twenty-five per cent. only of amylaceous maiter, 
allied to starch, of which Iceland moss, the food 
of the reindeer, contains eighty per cent. 

We may assume that the manna brought to 
the Israelites was, like the quails, a local natural 
product, provided in harmony with the pre- 


231 


ordained laws of the universe, and can proceed 
to consider whether the Lecanova esculenta, or some 
other product, most nearly accords with the 
Scriptural description of manna. Numerous trees 
and shrubs exude sweet gums, to some of which 
the name of manna is applied, but only a few 
of them are worthy consideration in connection 
with this subject. 

One of these is yielded by a thorny leguminous 
shrub, very common from the North of India to 
Syria, and plentiful in the Wilderness of Sin. It 
is called by the Arabs ‘‘ Alhaj” (Alhagi of 


Fig. 5.—TAMARIX GALLICA (MANNIFERA). 


Twigs infested with Coccus. 


Linnzus). Two species, Alhagi maurorum and 
A. desevtovum, are called by them ‘‘ Ooshter Khar,” 
or camel’s-thorn, and in Mesopotamia ‘‘ Agool.” 
The leaves of A. maurorum exude a sweetish 
juice (Arabic ‘‘ Ter enkjubin” = moist honey), which 
concretes into small granular masses, and which is 
usually distinguished by the name of Persian 
manna. It contains, amongst various sorts of 
particles, a great number of globular, crystalline 
and almost transparent bodies of different sizes 
and of a yellowish-white colour. The biggest of 


K 2 


232 


these does not exceed a large coriander seed in 
size, and they have somewhat the appearance of 
small lumps of mastic. Tournefort says that it is 
chiefly gathered about Tauris, a city of Persia, 
during great heats in that part of the world, but 
it is indigenous over a large part of the East, 
yielding manna, however, only in Persia, Bokhara, 
Arabia and Palestine. Extensive plains are in 
these countries covered with the camel’s-thorn, 
and it is of great importance as food for camels as 
well as for sheep and goats. From the wounds 
produced by the browsing of these animals, the 
manna chiefly exudes. It is collected by the 
Arabs and caravans which cross the desert, and is 
used as food. It is gathered by shaking the 
branches. This Alhagi does not appear to be 
the same shrub as that which the traveller 


Uhl bee 
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coe Pd MULTI 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


by the people often in preference to honey. In 
the summer it is collected in large quantities 
and put up for winter use. 

Another kind of manna is also gathered in the 
Wilderness of Sin which appears to have more 
points of resemblance with the manna of the 
Israelites than either the edible lichen or the 
saccharine exudations above referred to. This 
substance exudes from the twigs of the tamarisk 
(Tamarix gallica), figs. 2-4, a shrub or tree which is 
distributed over a large part of the northern 
hemisphere, especially near the shores of the 
Atlantic and Mediterranean seas and those of West 
Asia and North-West India, but which only yields 
manna in the valleys of the Sinaitic Peninsula, 
such as the Wady El Sheikh, the Wady Feiran, 
Wady Gharundel and the Wady Taibe, this local 


Aas 
o™ \ 
Na 
m : 
v's , 

‘ 


GSI 


go 
fo) 


Fig. 6.—Coccus MANNIPARUS, Ebr. 


a and b, drops of fallen manna; c, waxy vesicles, containing female pupa (magnified three times); d, section of 
vesicle containing pupa of female (much magnified); e and f, preliminary stage, underside and back (magnified thirty 


times); g, female (preliminary stage) magnified. 


Wellsted found bearing manna in the Wady 
Hebron, on his journey from Tor to Mount Sinai, 
in September, 1836, ‘‘fifteen miles from the sea, 
and at an elevation of about 2,000 feet.’’ That 
shrub was called “ gavan,” was about two feet 
high, and bore a striking resemblance to the 
broom. 

In Kurdistan, Dr. Wright found in one part of 
the mountains great quantities of a sweet substance 
on the leaves of certain trees, generally the oak 
and gall-nut tree, and which is called ‘‘gezza” in 
Kurdish, and ‘‘manna” in Syriac. It forms on 
the leaves in such abundance that when they are 
dried and pounded it comes off in scales, and is 
collected and used as an article of food. When 
melted and strained in order to separate the 
crumbled leaves it is very delicious, and is eaten 


variety being known to botanists as T. gallica (man- 
nifera). In the Wady Feiran, the valley in which 
the Israelites are believed to have camped, and 
which leads from the Gulf of Suez towards Mount 
Sinai, the traveller passes through thick avenues of 
these trees, which are called by the natives 
“ Turfeh’’ or ‘‘ Tarffa’”’ trees. They resemble a 
weeping-birch, and areespecially rich in sap. The 
manna flows from the extremities of their slender 
pensile boughs in drops, described by Lepsius as 
sometimes as large as peas, sometimes no larger 
than pin-heads. The exudation was ascertained 
by Ehrenberg to be consequent upon the puncture 
of the Coccus manniparus, Ehr., a kind of scale 
insect or mealy-bug (fig. 6), which infests these 
trees in spring and summer, and which is allied 
to the cochineal insect (Coccus cacti), and the Coccus 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ilicis, of which the dye-stuff called ‘‘ Kermes”’ is 
manufactured. 

The gummy matter falls most plentifully in rainy 
seasons on the leaves and the ground beneath the 
trees (fig. 6), and when falling on clean rock is 
white as snow in colour. It soon hardens, but 
melts again (says the traveller Burckhardt) as soon 
as the sun shines upon it, so it is collected by the 
Arabs before sunrise, when it is coagulated. They 
clear away the leaves, dirt, etc., which adhere to it, 
boil it, strain it through a coarse cloth, and put 
it into leathern skins. In this way they preserve it 
till the following year, and use it, as they do honey, 
to pour on their unleavened bread and dip the 
bread into. 

This, substance corresponds in size, taste and 
colour, as also in the time and mode of its appear- 
ance and collection, with the manna of Exodus xvi. 
and Numbers xi. ‘‘ We read” (says Carl Ritter, in 
his ‘‘ Geography of Palestine’’) ‘‘ that this food was 
provided after the Israelites had taken their journey 
from Elim and had come into the Wilderness of Sin, 
which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth 
day of the second month after their departing out 
of the land of Egypt. This seems to correspond 
with the Wady Taibe, the most northern point, 
according to Seetzen, where the manna (Tamarix 
mannifeva) is found, and the time after the passage of 
the Red Sea coincides accurately with the season 
when it is first observed inthe Wady Feiran.”’ 

It has been objected that very limited supplies 
of this manna are gathered in the present day, but 
travellers have recorded that the vegetation of the 
desert has been ruthlessly destroyed by the Bedouins, 
chiefly for the manufacture of charcoal, and we can 
be sure that in the time of the Israelites’ wander- 
ings the tamarisk extended in vast forests over the 
district where it is still found. The camel’s-thorn 
was also no doubt much more abundant at that 
time than in the present day. Add to which, the 
yield of manna would be enormously increased if 
we suppose that the same winds which brought the 
quails in such profusion also brought an unusual 
quantity of the Coccus parasite, and that the trees 
were abnormally punctured. 

It would be interesting to know the grounds 
upon which the learned author and editor of the 
‘Natural History of Plants’? have pronounced 
so decidedly in favour of the lichen, as it appears 
from the foregoing review of the subject that the 
food of the Israelites consisted, with a much 
greater degree of probability, of the exudation 
still known as manna, than of the dry and 
insipid lichen. 

Some, however, may be inclined to think that 
the manna described with such exactness in the 
Scriptures was that of the tamarisk supplemented 
by the other sorts known to be common in the 
Sinaitic Peninsula. 


233 


HINTS TO COLLECTORS. 


ll can never be too forcibly impressed upon 

those who are at all interested in the pursuit 
of scientific knowledge that one of the most 
absolutely essential features connected with the 
same is the keeping of a full and carefully-written 
record of their observations. 

Among the multitude of facts nature teaches, it 
is impossible to long retain in the mind even the 
most pronounced details of any scientific object 
which may have come under our notice. The 
consequence resulting is, that when we wish to 
recall the facts associated with some object in our 
collection or relating to a peculiar phenomenon 
we have witnessed, we have only a meagre know- 
ledge concerning it, if, as is too often the case, its 
data have not entirely slipped from memory. The 
forming of collections—no matter of what class of 
objects they may consist—is an altogether useless 
undertaking unless a carefully-compiled record is 
kept of their finding, and of facts relating thereto. 
It is not for the mere possessing of the objects 
themselves, however beautiful they may be, that 
we collect them, but that we may study them and 
learn their peculiarities. 

Whether it is a flower or fern gathered for 
preservation, a fossil exhumed from the rocks, or 
an insect captured, all are devoid of lasting interest 
and of no service in the future unless a written 
record has been kept of the conditions when and 
where they were obtained. What a ruthless 
destruction of animal and more especially insect 
life exists amongst scientific collectors, or those 
who consider themselves as such, the greater 
portion of which might well be avoided if a little 
more attention were given to this most vital point. 
We often see collections of objects that would 
have been better left where they were in nature than 
collected in the manner I have indicated, and so 
rendered altogether useless; for if left, the possibility 
exists of their falling into other and more worthy 
hands, and perhaps scientific knowledge thus 
heightened and enriched. Whenever an object 
worthy of preservation is discovered, a note of the 
fact should be made in such a manner that its 
history can readily be found when needed, and 
the fuller the details given concerning it the 
greater service it may prove at some time in 
the future. 

Needless to say, it is imperative that all obser- 
vations should be accurate, especially in relation to 
dates and attendant conditions. It is best to make 
them at once and on the spot. The nomenclature 
and description of the object should be as accu- 
rately expressed as lies within the power of the 
observer, assistance in this direction being sought 
from all available sources. E. F. J. Bryan. 


Bristol ; December, 1896. 


234 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


THE. RISE OF PAL /AONTOLOGY, 


By ARTHUR J. Masten. 


(Continued from page 184.) 


V HILE vertebrate palzontology was thus 

rapidly advancing under the guidance of 
Cuvier, Agassiz, Owen and others; the study of 
fossil-remains on the inveriebraie side was making 
an equally rapid march under the guidance of 
Lamarck. Chevalier de Lamarck was born in 
Picardy in 1744, and, after relinquishing the 
Church, for which he was educated, and spending 
some time in the army, in 1773 began his scientific 
studies on the invertebraies. Working with Cuvier, 
he studied both living and fossil forms, and ai the 
beginning of this century published works in which 
he classified the fossil with the living forms. He 
was quickly followed by others, some of whom 
adopted the Linnzan system of naming, while a 
section, unfortunaiely, did not. Among these we 
May mention James Parkinson, who, while prac- 
tising medicine in Hoxion, iells us, in 1804, that: 
“Impelled by that eager curiosity which a view of 
a former world musi excite in every inquisitive 
mind, I long and earnesily sought for informa- 
tion respecting these wonderful substances from 
every source io which I could obiain access.” In 
time, after acquiring a “‘litile fortune,” he quainily 
remarks that he ‘‘quitted the busy part of the 
world for ever,” and published a great work in 
three volumes, well illustrated with beautiful 
figures, and entitled ‘Organic Remains oi a Former 
World: being an Examination of the Mineralized 
Remains of the Vegetables and Animals oi the 
Antediluvian World, generally termed Extraneous 
Fossils.” 

The.Mosaic deluge was still regarded by many 
as the cause of the burying of ihe organisms which 
we now find as fossil remains—an idea which died 
but slowly. The celebrated Dr. William Buckland 
had, about this time, been promoied io the newly- 
endowed special readership in Geology at Oxiord, 
and his inaugural address on this occasion was 
afterwards published under ihe title of “ Vindiciz 
Geologicz ; or, the Connection of Geology with 
Religion Explained *’; while a few years later, as the 
result of a number of original researches on cavern 
deposits, he published his ‘‘ Reliquiz Diluvianz; 
or, Observations on the Organic Remains in Caves, 
etc., attesting the action of an Universal Deluge.” 
His work, as one of the earliest English practical 
geologists, was of much value, although of course 
his conclusions were warped to some extent by his 
particular theories, some of which he himself was 
lead subsequently to modify in the celebrated 
Bridgewater treatise on ‘‘ Geology and Mineralogy 
considered with reference to Natural Theology.”’ 


In the Type Collections Gallery at the Natural 
History Museum, South Kensington, is to be seen 
a small collection which is perhaps the most 
generally interesting of all shown there to the 
student of geological history. It is that formed by 
William Smith, “ the Father of English Geology,” 
to whom we owe the first successiul attempt not 
only to show that there is an invariable order of 
superposition oi strata, but also that each formation 
can be recognized by the peculiar fossils which it 
coniains, thus giving to fossils a geological sig- 
nificance in addition to the zoological one which 
they were already beginning to possess. No longer 
were fossils mere zoological curiosities ; they were 
now, as Maniell called them later, ‘Medals of 
Creation.” 

Long and fierce had been the contest as to 
the agencies concerned in the formation of rocks. 
The iwo rival schools of thought—ithe Vulcanists 
who iraced everything io the action of fire on 
the one hand, and the Nepiunisis, led by Werner, 
with their waier theories on the other—had been 
silenced by the happy compromise of Dr. John 
Huiton, who maintained in his famous ‘‘ Theory 
oi the Earth,” published at Edinburgh a little more 
than a ceniury ago, thai the siratified rocks owe 
their origin io the action of water; whilst the 
inirusive unsiratified masses were the resuli of the 
action of heat. This was in iruih the foundation of 
modern geology ; but it was left for William Smith 
to show us how the siratified rocks can be made io 
tell the wonderful and fascinating story of the earth’s 
past history, and the succession of steps by which 
the animals and planis of the present are linked 
with those of the past. William Smith was born 
at Churchill, a village in Oxfordshire, in 1769, and 
was the son of a small farmer and mechanic, who, 
however, died when the boy was ai an early age, 
leaving him to the guardianship of an uncle, who 
apparenily had bui little sympathy with the boy, 
who would persist in collecting ‘‘ pundibs’’ (Tere- 
bratulz) and ‘‘quoit-stones’’ (Clypeus). How- 
ever, he taught himself the rudiments of geometry 
and land-surveying, and in 1793 obtained an 
appointment to survey a proposed coal-canal near 
Bath. Here then were opportunities for geological 
work, opportunities which, when followed out, 
yielded io him the magnificent results we have 
mentioned, and siratigraphical- geology, thus 
founded by an Englishman, remains to this day 
a division of the science in which Englishmen 
are in the front rank. In those days there were 
no societies devoied io geology through which 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


the scientific world might be made acquainted 
with the results of original research; so we 
find Smith taking his ideas before the local 


agricultural societies, where ‘Strata Smith,”’ 
as he was nick-named, became a bore and a 
nuisance. 


However, his ideas gradually became known and 
his conclusions accepted, and when, later, he went 
northwards into Yorkshire, he became acquainted 
with many a man who was destined to occupy 
a distinguished place in the galaxy of scientific 
worthies. Foremost among these may be mentioned 
John Phillips and the Williamson family. Prof. 
J. Phillips was a nephew of W. Smith, and had 
been busy collecting and describing the fossils of 
the mountain limestone district of Yorkshire, and 
published in two volumes (1829-1836) a most 
valuable work on “‘ Illustrations of the Geology of 
Yorkshire,” the types for which were afterwards 
bought for the British Museum, and brought 
up to Belle Sauvage. Burglars, however, carried 
them away as a prize, and we can imagine their 
disgust when, opening the box at the first con- 
venient spot—on London Bridge—they discovered 
that their treasure-trove was but ‘‘stones,” and, 
alas! they threw them over, and the priceless 
specimens were gone for ever. 

It was Phillips who suggested the now familiar 
terms—Palzozoic, Mesozoic, and Cainozoic; while 
among his co-workers in Yorkshire were the 
Williamsons, father and son. The latter, W. C. 
Williamson, whose death but a year or two back 
we had to deplore, was, when Smith first made the 
acquaintance of the family, still a boy, but later, 
in 1835, he carried the principle of the identifica- 
tion of beds by their fossil contents a step farther 
by the recognition of district ‘‘zones,’’ character- 
ized by an assemblage of forms of ammonites, etc., 
having but short vertical range. Later he took up 
the study of palzo-botany, which had already 
been worked at in France by Adolphe Brong- 
niart, by Count Sternberg in Germany, and by 
Lindley and others in this country, and by his 
researches on the ‘‘coal-balls” of the coal 
measures brought out the brilliant results on which 
our knowledge of the magnificent cryptogamic 
flora of the Carboniferous period is so largely 
based. 

About this time (1838) a little society was founded 
by a few London geologists, which was destined later 
to develop into the Palzontographical Society, 
which has ever since undertaken the publication of 
all important monographs on this subject in this 
country. The original society, known as the 
‘London Clay Club,” consisted of Dr. Bowerbank, 
Searles V. Wood, Professor John Morris, Alfred 
White, Nathaniel T. Wetherell, James de Carle 
Sowerby and Frederick E. Edwards, and was 
originally formed to illustrate the Eocene Mollusca, 


235 


Excavations at Highgate Archway and elsewhere 
had brought to light a large number of fossils, and 
already James Sowerby and his son, James de Carle 
Sowerby, had written and illustrated a great work, 
which was appearing in parts (1812-45), ‘* The 
Mineral Conchology of Great Britain,” consisting of 
six volumes, illustrated with 648 plates, representing 
with skill and fidelity the forms described, which 
were drawn from every geological formation and 
from every part of England. The work was carried 
on in great detail by the members of the Clay 
Club, and later the Palzontographical Society, 
the first volume, issued in 1847, being ‘‘The Crag 
Mollusca,” by Searles V. Wood, the magnifi- 
cent collection for which, occupying thirty years 
in its formation, is now deposited in the Natural 
History Museum, together with the Edwards 
collection of Eocene Mollusca, which represents 


the most complete collection ever attempted 
by any geologist, and which still remains 
unrivalled. 


Our task is now completed. We have attempted 
to trace out, necessarily in a sketchy manner, the 
line of development of a branch of knowledge 
which, though in a strictly scientific sense, is 
such a new one that Cuvier and Lamarck may 
justly be called its founders and the present 
century its range in time, yet can be traced in 
an incipient form far back into the dim regions 
of antiquity. 

The names we have mentioned are but a few 
among the long list of worthies whose works form 
landmarks by which the history may be traced ; 
did space permit their ranks might be swelled by 
many whose claims to our attention are scarcely 
less important. Nor is it our intention in the 
present article to carry on the thread of our history 
up to the present time. We might point out the 
effects of the immortal genius of Charles Darwin 
(whose work has revolutionized the whole of modern 
thought, and not least the study of fossils), following 
in the wake of the great school of uniformitarianism, 
founded by Hutton, Lyell, Playfair and others. 
These have shown how wild were the dreamy 
speculations of the catastrophists, with their 
innumerable convulsions, cataclysms, inundations 
and special creations. 

The development of the great idea of evolution 
in organic life has given a meaning to the succes- 
sion of ever-differentiating types disclosed by the 
patient labours of Smith, Murchison, Sedgwick 
and others. Not only is the present the key to unlock 
the past, in the language of uniformitarianism, but 
the past has become a key by which alone we can 
understand many of the problems which confront 
us with respect to the existing forms. If we are 
to understand truly the full meaning and relation- 
ships of the existing animals and plants, we must 
know those of the past, now perhaps extinct, to 


236 


which they are genetically related, and from which 
they are the descendants. 

In many groups of the animal kingdom there are 
known more extinct than living forms, while yet 
other great groups are known only by fossil forms. 
So great has been the evidence for evolution, for 
descent with modification, that the late Professor 
Huxley tells us that ‘‘ The palzontological dis- 
coveries of the last decade are so completely in 
accordance with the requirements of this hypothesis 
that if it had not existed the paleontologist would 
have had to invent it.’ (1) 

Yet we may feel certain that but comparatively 
few of the treasures locked up in the earth’s crust 
have been discovered. North America has yielded 
to the patient work of Marsh, Cope, and others a 


large number of new forms noticeable alike for 
(4) Collected Essays, vol. iv., p. 44. 


PANS OE Or 


ia April of last year I bought from a barrow-man 

in the street a small Grecian tortoise, attached 
to the hollow of the thigh of the hind leg of which 
I found a parasite that for a long time defied my 
utmost attempts to remove from its host. 
nearly the size of a 
sheep-tick (Melapha- 
gus ovinus), and its 
head appeared to be 
entirely embedded 
in the flesh. Seeing 
there was no chance 
of capturing it alive 
I applied a drop or 
two of benzoline, 
and when dead the 
force necessary to 
detach it by the aid 
of a pair of forceps 
was such as to tear 
away a portion of 
the skin of the tor- 
toise. This I had 
afterwards some 
difficulty in removing 
from the proboscis, 
for fear of damaging 
my specimen. 

Not having found a 
record of this animal 
in any book I have seen I made drawings, using a 
neutral tint reflector. These I enclose, and if you 
can make any use of them I shall be pleased. 

The fleam-like lancets are admirable as instru- 
ments for piercing the tough skin of the tortoise, 


It was 


PARASITE OF TORTOISE. 
a, drawn under 2" objective; b, head, 1” objective; c, lancets, 
2” objective; d, tarsus, 3” objective. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


their profusion and their remarkable characters. 
Other regions are doing the same, and yet 
others may be expected to do so when diligently 
searched. 

The end is not yet: the future may open up 
long vistas of thought and discovery, the effect of 
which may perhaps be seen in such a reaction 
between the present and the past as shall enable 
the biologist of the future, with his knowledge of 
organic forms and their succession, ‘‘to conclude 
from a part to the whole, from one or 
two terms in such a succession to the whole 
series, and thus to divine the existence of forms of 
life, of which perhaps no trace remains, at epochs 
of inconceivable remoteness in the past.’ (?) 


Royal College of Science, London, S.W. 


(2) Collected Essays, vol. iv., p. 45. 


TORLOUSE. 


which, being accomplished, the double proboscis has 
the faculty of extension, exactly as one would open 
a pair of scissors. This fully explains the difficulty 
of detachment. 

Turning from this diabolical-looking organ, one 
is struck with the 
extreme delicacy of 
the tarsi, both in 
structure and attach- 
ment. These appear 
to be loosely pen- 
dant, and can serve 
no other purpose 
than to help the 
creature to drag 
itself along the 
coarsely-wrinkled 
surface of the skin of 
its host. The anten- 
nz, which havesmall 
tufts of hair near their 
extremities, lie back- 
wards when the pro- 
boscis has completed 
its full insertion. 

The finding of a 
parasite of this de- 
scription upon such 
an inhospitable 
looking animal as 
the tortoise has been to me a very interesting 
discovery. I should be glad to know more 
about it. SAMUEL HOWARTH. 

26, Grange Crescent, Sheffield ; 
January, 1897. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


237 


BIOLOGICAL. (OT TINGS: 


Part I].—PARASITES. 


By Rupo.r Beer, F.L.S. 


N a former ‘‘jotting’’ (ante p. 173,) I pointed 


out the uncertainties which surround our ~ 


ideas of the organic cell. In writing this second 
paper my thoughts were turned to a subject which 
was in everyone's mouth, and about the meaning 
of which there could be no dispute. Parasitism 
was the chosen theme. But, alas for my hopes! 
At the very outset, when I attempted to write 
down a definition, I found myself beset with more 
trouble and more confusion than even that 
chameleon term ‘‘cell’’ brought with it. After 
much reflection and much hesitation, Mr. Michael 
hazards the definition of an animal parasite as 
‘““a creature which, at the time spoken of, is 
residing in a permanent or temporary manner in 
or upon another living creature, and is existing at 
the expense of or by the assistance of the host.” 

Even this statement, which is perhaps as 
satisfactory as any can be, leads to strange issues. 
The sheep, living upon and at the expense of the 
grass of the meadow, is, from this point of view, 
undoubtedly a parasite. Moreover, the doubt arises 
that perhaps when we are enjoying a leg of mutton 
we also are parasites! We will pass, however, 
from such painful definitions to instances of what 
are commonly regarded as parasites. An example 
of the most virulent type of parasite is furnished 
by certain members of that all too familiar race, 
the bacteria. Another illustration is given by 
the Uredinez, a class of fungi which play the 
same baneful part among the higher plants as 
bacteria do among human beings. It may not be 
unprofitable to look a little more closely at these 
fungi. A remarkable feature of these plants is 
the fastidiousness with which they select a host. 
Not only do they demand a particular species on 
which to grow, but many of them spend the 
different phases of their existence on distinct and 
special hosts. To gain some idea of their curious 
habits, we will glance at the life cycle of a common 
and representative member of the class. 

The mildew of wheat will be familiar to every- 
one. Man’s acquaintance with this pest dates 
back to very remote antiquity; in the middle 
ages Wycliffe mentions it, and Shakespeare 
speaks of the foul fiend who “ mildews the white 
wheat.”’ That some connection exists between 
this wheat disease and the barberry plant was 
recognized by farmers long before its fungoidal 
nature was understood. In fact, in 1760 an Act 
was passed in Massachusetts to effect the exter- 
mination of all barberry bushes, owing to the 
spread of wheat mildew. 


The true nature of the disease of wheat and of 
the influence of the barberry plant upon it was 
first explained in 1818 by the patient and unob- 
trusive work of a Danish schoolmaster, Schceler 
by name. Finally the master hand of De Bary 
cleared up the remaining difficulties and set the 
whole story before us with limpid clearness from 
beginning to end. 

Thanks to this brilliant work, we now know that 
the barberry itself is afflicted by a disease caused 
by a parasitic fungus of the class of Uredinez. 
The spores produced by this fungus, strange to 
say, will not develop upon the barberry bush, but 
only upon wheat, and here they grow into a form 
quite different from their parent. Further, the 
spores of this second phase germinate upon fresh 
wheat plants to produce a different adult form 
from either of those which have gone before. From 
the resting spores produced by this third form a 
different generation is originated, the spores of 
which, falling upon a barberry, reproduce the 
stage with which we commenced. During the 
sojourn of this parasite upon the wheat the mildew 
of the cereal is caused. We see then that there 
are four stages in the existence of this organism : 
one of these is spent on the barberry, two on the 
wheat, and one is independent of a host plant. 
Truly, we may admit, this is a strange and 
complex life-history. It is a story too which is 
not peculiar to wheat blight, but one that is shared 
in a greater or less degree by all the members of 
that large group of parasites, the Uredinez. For 
a long time each stage was looked on as a separate 
individual, but now the connections of the different 
forms are being gradually worked and understood. 
The name of ‘‘saprophyte’’ is given to those 
parasites which, although not attacking living 
organisms, are yet dependent upon their dead 
remains for sustenance. An example is furnished 
by Xylaria hyponylon, the candle-snuff fungus which 
grows on dead stumps of wood. 

Besides these two degrees of parasitism connected 
with destruction and decay, there is also a third 
form in which nothing but good and advantage 
accrues both to host and parasite. I refer to the 
condition of symbiosis, which may be defined asa 
state of partnership entered into by two organisms 
for their mutual benefit, or, at any rate, if for the 
direct good of one alone, without the harm of the 
other. A very excellent example is furnished by 
the nodules on the roots of the leguminous plants. 
These tuberosities are crowded with micro- 
organisms which “‘ fix’’ the free nitrogen of the air 


K 3 


238 


and hand a portion of it over as a food-stuff to the 
higher plant. The latter, in return, gives some of 
the starchy food which its green leaves have 
prepared to the organisms in its roots. Thus the 
work of nutrition is, in this case, shared between 
two plants standing at opposite extremes of the 
vegetable kingdom. Any reference to symbiosis 
would be incomplete without a mention of the 
lichens. The work of Schwendener, of Stahl, of 
Reess and of others has shown that these plants 
are not self-standing, but rather to be regarded as 
fungi which have grown round and enclosed within 
them certain alge. The relation existing between 
the two is not one of parasitism in the strict sense, 
however, but of symbiosis. Both fungus and alga 
have marked advantages from the combination. 
The colourless fungus is enabled to assimilate food ; 
and it is rendered possible for the green alga to 
exist in situations which would be impracticable to 
it alone; moreover, the fungoidal covering protects 
the alga from many external dangers. 

Another somewhat similar but less certain case 
of partnership is that which is said to exist 
between certain animals and alge. The common 
Hydra viridis of our ponds represents a union of 
this kind. The body of the Hydra consists of an 
outer columnar layer of cells—the ectoderm—and 
an inner irregular layer—the endoderm,—between 
the two strata being interposed a delicate 
membrane—the mesogloea. The inner endoderm 
cells abut upon the central cavity of the Hydra, 
and take a prominent part in the digestive 
processes of the organism. They are amceboid 
in their nature, constantly altering their shape; 
they are furnished each with a nucleus, a flagellum, 
and a large vacuole. Besides these things they 
have one other remarkable feature in that they are 
studded with granules of green chlorophyll. Now 
chlorophyll is the characteristic possession of the 
plant world, and it has been asserted that where- 
ever this green pigment occurs in the animal 
kingdom it is present in the form of a low alga, 
which is included in the animal and stands in 
symbiotic relationship to it. Whether the chloro- 
phyll grains of Hydra, Paramcecium, etc., are true 
organs of the animal in which they occur, or 
imprisoned algz, is a question which can by no 
means be considered decided, although so careful 
an observer as Brandt is responsible for the latter 
view. 

The illustration of symbiosis furnished by 
flowers and insects will be familiar to all. The 
pollination of the yuccas, a class of lilies, which 
Professor Riley has only lately (1892) explained, 
may be worth repeating here. 

A moth, Pronuba yuccasella, when about to lay its 
eggs, flies to a newly-opened flower of yucca, 
pierces a hole into its ovary, and deposits its eggs 
in some six or more ovules. It then flies to the 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


anthers and collects together a small mass of pollen 
which it stuffs into the hollow stigma of the plant. 
By all this it effects the fertilization of the flower at 
the expense of some few of its ovules, and at the same 
time it provides for the shelter and maintenance of 
its young. How dependent this plant is on the 
moth will be seen from the fact that in Philadelphia, 
where the moth appears when the yucca blooms, 
numerous seeds are formed, whilst in St. Louis, 
where the moth only comes after the time of 
flowering, no seed is developed. 

In those countries where the leaf-cutting ant 
strips the higher plants of their foliage, a curious 
partnership is entered into between the ordinary 
ants and certain acacia plants. In Acacia sphero- 
cephala, for instance, we find the thorns on the 
stem curiously hollowed out and opening on to the 
exterior by small holes. In these cavities the ants 
find a safe and convenient home. Not only does 
the plant house its visitors, but it also provides them 
with refreshments: from its leaflets it excretes 
small nutritious particles, which are eagerly de- 
voured by the ants, and having taken off the edge 
of their appetites it tickles their palates still further 
with the nectar it secretes. Fortunate indeed are 
these ants beyond their fellows, and well should 
they deem their task a light one of repelling their 
leaf-damaging relatives. These latter themselves 
live under an even more curious symbiotic condi- 
tion. The leaf fragments that they collect together 
they arrange as a pabulum for a certain fungus 
(Rozites gongylophova) which forms their staple 
food-supply. In order that this may be always to 
hand they plan those wonderful ‘‘ fungal gardens”’ 
which Moller has so well described. 

There is another case of comradeship between 
two animals which is well worth examining: it is 
the association of a certain hermit-crab (Pagurus 
prideauxti) and a sea-anemone (Adamsia palliata). 
The hermit-crabs, taken as a class, are curious 
in the possession of soft and unprotected tail- 
portions to their otherwise chitinous bodies. To 
protect this vulnerable organ the majority of them 
seek a whelk- or winkle-shell in which they can 
thrust this soft part, and in their travels drag the 
house they have appropriated after them. Pagurus 
prideauxii, however, is wiser than its brethren: in 
its young days it attaches itself to a very small 
shell, and to this habitat it sees that a specimen of 
a particular sea-anemone also becomes fixed. As 
the crab grows the shell only covers the tip of its 
soft and now large tail, and in the ordinary course 
of events it would have to undertake the unpleasant 
duty of house-moving. “But in this particular far- 
seeing Pagurus the difficulty is obviated, for the 
anemone which became attached to this stolen 
house has, like the inmate, grown considerably ; 
first it spread over the entire shell, then bit by bit 
it grew forwards beyond this on to the body of the 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


crab, and always as the latter increased in size the 
anemone kept pace with it. So it comes about 
that without the trouble of changing residences the 
crab is furnished with a covering to its tender 
abdominal region, and one that is far lighter 
and more easily carried about than the heavy 
whelk-shells of its near relatives. At first these 
smiled at brother Pagurus dragging upon him a 
double load, but now in later life the Pagurus can 
turn the laugh the other way. The anemone is 
soft, and might hardly, perhaps, be considered a 
sufficient protection, but its surface is studded with 
stings, by means of which it can drive away many 
enemies that even the hard whelk-shell might not 
satisfactorily keep off. The advantage to the 
anemone.is of course obvious: in tearing up its 
food the crab lets many fragments slip by, and 
these are readily caught up by its partner. Again, 
the slowly movable anemone is borne rapidly from 
place to place not only away from external dangers, 
but also into ‘‘fresh fields and pastures new,’’ 
where it can gather in abundant and varied diet. 
In conclusion, we may turn to yet another 
instance of symbiosis in which man himself forms 
one link. Many micro-organisms, as we know to 
our cost, take up their habitation in the different 
organs of our bodies and produce in them various 


239 


diseases. But micro-organisms are of many kinds, 
and by no means all‘harmful; some varieties reside 
normally in the body and gain, it is true, advantages 
for themselves, but give also advantages in return. 
Thus the intestinal portion of our digestive system 
is swarming with bacteria. The food that reaches 
this portion of the alimentary canal is acted on to 
some extent by the micro-organisms, which extract 
from it some parts for their own use, and in doing 
so aid in the chemical processes which collectively 
constitute digestion. 

How far these bacteria share in the many 
changes of our food is not yet completely under- 
stood, but that they do take a share we fully realise, 
and some of the changes they effect we already 
know. The complete story of their work and the 
checks which the body exercises on their too rapid 
increase is still, however, a tale which the future 
must unfold. 

Many and curious are the associations which we 
have seen between organism and organism, but none 
stranger than this last example, where, indeed, the 
extremes meet, and the simplest and the highest of 
organisms, the bacterium and man, join in the 
common issues of life. 

Elmwood, Bickley, Kent ; 
January, 1897. 


SCALE INSPCis: 


Coccipz ASSOCIATED WITH ANTS. 


iBsy 4, ID. (Co Coekdomswic, 


i is well-known to entomologists that ants’ nests 

contain a varied and peculiar fauna, in addition 
to the ants themselves. These messmates and 
parasites are of many kinds, and a full list of them 
will be found in Wasmann's ‘‘ Kritisches Verzeich- 
niss der Myrwekophilen und Termitophilen Arthro- 
poden,” published in Berlin in 1894. Although 
the species enumerated in the work mentioned are 
very numerous, the subject isanything but exhausted, 
and will yield good results to the collector in any 
country. The present paper is intended to givea 
brief account of the Coccidz known to be associated 
with ants, in the hope that some of your readers 
may be interested, and perhaps search for and 
discover some additional species. 


(1) MARGARODES FoRMIcARIUM, Guilding, 1833. 

A very curious pearl-like yellowish creature 
found in and about ants’ nests in the West Indies. 

Roland Trimen has recorded a supposed Mar- 
garodes from ants’ and termites’ nests in Cape 
Colony. In Chile the ant Brachymyrmex giardi, 
Emery, is associated with Margarodes vitium. 


(2) ORTHEZIA OCCIDENTALIS, Douglas, 1891. 
About 4 millimetres long, oval, covered with white 


secretion, which is divided into lamella. Legs 
and antennz comparatively large. Found in ants’ 
nests in Colorado. For the full description, with 
figures, see Ent. Mo. Mag., 1891, p. 245. 


(3) SPERMOCOCCUS FALLAX, Giard, 1893. 

This is a peculiar species found by Giard, at 
Wimereux, on the roots of various plants, especially 
grasses, in the nests of ants. The adult female is 
5 to 7 millimetres long, by 24 to 3 broad, yellowish 
fawn, primrose, with darker lines on the back. 
The antennez are seven-jointed, the first three the 
longest. In June the female secretes cottony 
matter in which the eggs are deposited. 


(4) LECANOPSIS FORMICARUM, Newstead, 1893. 

Found by Mr. C. W. Dale, at Chesil Beach, in 
nest of Formica nigra ; for the full description and 
figures see Ent. Mo. Mag., 1893, p. 206. The 
female is dusky-yellow or reddish-yellow, with two 
broad interrupted subdorsal stripes. Length, 5 to 
54 millimetres, breadth, 2 to 24. Antennz eight- 
jointed. It must be confessed that there is nothing 
in Giard’s description of Spermococcus fallax which 
might not apply to this insect. It is true that the 
antenne are said to be seven-jointed, but the 


K 4 


240 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


seventh joint is “‘trés porlu et parfois subdivisé en 
deux.” When Newstead wrote his description 
Giard’s had not appeared, but Giard has a few 
months’ priority of publication. 


(5) EX2RETOPUS FORMICETICOLA, Newsiead, 1894. 


Found by Mr. W. A. Luff in ants’. nests in 
Guernsey. 2% ito 33 millimetres long, sub-oval, 
more or less reddish-brown. Antennz eighi- 
jointed, slender, quite different from those of the 
Lecanopsis, last joint very small. Anierior tarsi 
iwo-jointed. For fall particulars see Eni. Mo. 
Mag., 1894, p. 204. 

(6) Riversia tTomiinil, Newstead, 1892. 

Discovered by Miss Tomlin (so it should have 
been called Tomlinz) on grass roois in anis’ nesis, 
Moulin Huet, Guernsey (See Ent. Mo Mag, 
1892, p. 746, and 1803, p. 77-) It is associated 
with Tziramorium cespitum in Guernsey, and with 
Lasius aligmus in Alderney. Female, dull orange- 
yellow, elongate-oval, 2 io 3 wmillimeires long. 
Aniennz seven-joinied. 


(7) RIPERSiIA SUBTERRANEA, Newsiead, 1893. 


On roots of Nardus stricta in nests of Lasius jiavus, 
in Norfolk. (See Ent. Mo. Mag., 1803, p. 79.) 
Female subpyriform, dark red-brown. 


(8) Ripersia FormicicoLta, Maskell, 1892. 


Found by Mr. W. W. Smith, in New Zealand, in 
nests of Monomorium suieri, Forel, M. nitidum, Smith, 
and M_ smihii, Forel. tt had been reporied io 
occur in the nests also of Huberia striata, but this 
was an error. Female, yellow, brown or red, 

itish, circnlar or slighily elongated, powdered 
with white meal and having a number of whiie 
coitony iassels all round the margin. _Antennz 
Six-jointed. 

(9) Riversia xineu, Ckll., 1806. 

Found by Mr. G. B. King, in Massachusetts, 
with Lasius flavus. Pink, shading into purple. 
Antennz six-jointed. For the full account of this 
and the next two species, see Canad. Entom., 


- September, 1896. 


(zo) Ripersia rasu, Ckll., 1896. 
Found by Mr. G B. King, in Massachusetts, 
with Lasius americanus and L. flavus. Clear white, 
antennz seven-joinied, sometimes six-joinied. 


(zz) Ripersis FLavzora, Ckll., 1806. 


Found by Mr. G. B. King, in Massachusetts, 
with Lastus caviger. Light yellow, antennz six- 
jointed, sometimes seven-jointed. 

(2) DaAcTYLOPIUS KINGII, 0. sp. 


Adult female, oval, distinctly segmented, 3 milli- 
metres long, 2 millimetres broad, very mealy, and 


covered with white cottony secretion. Colour 
(beneath the meal) a delicate pale pink; the in- 
ternal juices are very bright pink. (Lately 
hatched larvz are of the same colour as the adult.) 
Legs and antennz, very pale brownish. Boiled in 
caustic soda the insects do not stain the liquid in 
the least. Aniennz eight-jointed, 8 much longest, 
very long, cylindrical, not at all swollen, with three 
whorls of hairs, it is longer than 6 + 7; 1 next 
longest; 2 and 3 equal, and neither so long as the 
breadth of 1 at base (i is just as long as its basal 
breadth); 5 equal to 3. Formula 81(235)(67)4, 
but there is little difference between the joints 
from 2 to 7, except that 4 is very short, little 
more than half as long as 3. Mouth parts 
small; rostral loop barely reaching to base of 
middle legs. Legs ordinary, rather bristly, 
femur only moderately stout, longer than tibia. 
Tarsus about 2 length of tibia. Claw stout, 
curved; all the digitales filiform. Anal ring 
with the usual six bristles. Caudal tubercles 
practically obsolete, each with a bristle very little 
longer than that of the anal ring, and also some 
minute bristles, and two short, stout, conical spines. 
Discovered by Mr. G. B. King in nests of Lasius 
claviger, Rog.,at Methuen, Massachusetis, Nov. 4th, 
1896. The females, covered with their cottony 
down, look like little balls of snow in the nests, 
Mr. King says. Another lot of specimens is from 
Lasius americanus, L. fiavus and L. claviger, Methuen, 
Haverhill, and Lawrence, Mass., all found by Mr. 
King. They occurred on the underside of the 
stones covering the nests. Specimens of this 
second lot show an antennal formula 8(12)3(567)4, 
and the claw has a minute denticle on the inner 
side; but I have no doubt they are the same species. 
This is the third truly native Dactylopius from 
the eastern United States. It resembles the other 
two (D. trifolii, Forbes, and D. sorghiellus, Forbes) 
a good deal, but is apparently distinct. A reference 
to a similar coccid, not identified, is given by 
McCook, Trans. Amer. Entom. Soc., 1877, p. 288. 
As it is described as dark red it is more likely to 
have been D. trifolit than D. kingii. 

Several other species of Dactylopius have been 
found more or less associated with ants. In New 
Zealand, D. fog, Maskell, and D. arece, Maskell, 
have been found with Monomorium nitidum and 
Huberia striata, but they are not strictly ants’-nest 
species. D. fog is pink, with thin white meal; 
D. areceé is yellowish-brown or reddish. Forel has 
recorded the ant Brachymyrmex heeri, Forel, as 
associated with Dactylopius adonidum and Lecanium 
hemisphericum. In Trinidad, Dactylopius nipe is 
tended by an ant, Azieca chartifex. In Michigan, 
Professor Davis found D. irifolit with Lasius niger ; 
this ivifolii is reddish-brown, with a mealy covering 
as in our insect, the antennal formula is 83(27)15(46), 
in the winter 8(35)2(1467). 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


POSTSCRIPT ON DACTYLOPIUS SORGHIELLUS. 


It seems desirable to call more particular atten- 
tion to the close relationship between D. kingii, 
described on page 242, and D. sorghielius, Forbes. It 
is possible, indeed, that these two may ultimately 
prove to be forms of one species, though in the 
light of our present knowledge we must hold them 
distinct. The differences apparent on studying 
Forbes’ description of sorghiellus are as follows: 
D. sorghiellus is covered by a bluish bloom, and does 
not hide itself in a white cottony sac like kingit ; 
sorghiellus is 13 millimetres long, kingit is 3 milli- 
metres ; in sorghiellus the fourth antennal joint is the 
shortest, as in kingii, but the eighth is ‘‘enlarged 
to a kind of club,” while in kingii it is not at all 
swollen, and it is only ‘‘ very rearly as long as the 
sixth and seventh together,”’ whereas in fingii it is 
longer than thesetwo. It might be thought that 
Forbes’ specimens were not quite mature ; but his 
notes show that he had adults, and he describes the 
eggs. As to the habits of sorghiellus, Forbes says it 
occurs ‘‘on corn (roots, leaf sheath and leaf), on 
sorghum (August 4th), and on the roots of June 
grass, timothy, and probably other meadow and 
pasture grasses, clover, and cocklebur (Xanthium 
strumavium). It is commonly attended by ants, 
especially the species most frequently acting as 
host to the corn-root aphis, Lasius niger, and its 
variety alienus. It sometimes passes the winter in 
their nests, where we have seen ants feeding on the 
waxy surface-covering of the mealy-bugs.”” (S. A. 
Forbes, Monog. ‘‘ Insects injurious to Indian Corn,” 
p. 107.) 

(13) LECANIUM URICHI, CAll., 1894. 


Discovered by Mr. Urich in Trinidad, in nests of 


FEATHERED VERMIN IN 


By ROBERT 


i | ee is no need to explain the meaning of 

the word ‘‘ vermin,” except to say that it is 
here used in a rather restricted sense, being 
employed in reference to the feathered portion only 
of the malefactors embraced under that term. In 
the Pentlands we cannot boast a great variety of 
vermin, nor claim any rare breeding species. 
The three small hawks—the kestrel, merlin and 
sparrow-hawk,—long-eared owl, magpie and carrion 
crow, and, in some instances, jackdaw, constitute 
our list of resident vermin. But a few others pay a 
passing visit in spring and autumn. 

Winter has barely passed before the keepers 
and shepherds prepare for their yearly onslaught 
on ‘‘hoodies’’ and hawks, and in their efforts 
to exterminate them, reckon every means taken 
as lawful and fair. Traps baited with fresh rabbit 


241 


Cremastogaster brevispitosa, Mayr. Found in Granada 
with an undetermined ant; also found in Brazil. 
About the size and shape of a half-pea, but some- 
what smaller and flatter; red-brown, shiny, with 
black or blackish interrupted transverse lines. In 
Trinidad Mr. Hart found Lecanium nanum, Ckll., and 
Icerya vose, R. and H.,in runs of the ant Azteca 
chartifex. 


(14) LECANIUM FORMICARII, Green, 1896. 


In Ceylon, on stems of tea and other shrubs, in 
nests of Cremastogaster dohrni, Mayr. Highly convex, 
almost globular, dull brown. 

The above fourteen species are, I think, all yet 
known to be normally inhabitants of ants’ nests. 
The list could be much extended if all those with 
which ants are associated were quoted. To give 
some examples: Mr. J. T. Moggridge describes 
how Camponstus marginatus at Cannes ascends the 
cork oaks in search of certain coccids, which from 
his description are evidently Kevmes bauhinii; Mr. 
Douglas has recorded Formica fuliginosa guarding 
Lecanium vubt; Mr. Barber has found Tetvamorium 
auvopunctatum associated with Lecanium hemispheri- 
cum on coffee in Montserrat ; Mr. Sule found three 
Phenacoccus acevis in the runs of Lasius fuliginosus ; 
the ant Acropyga goldii, Forel, was found by Dr. 
Goeldi tending a coccid on coffee-trees in Brazil ; 
Mr. Schwarz found larve of Asfidiotus perniciosus 
on the ant Monomorium minutum in Virginia (the 
larval coccids will crawl on to anything that 
approaches, and so get transported from place to 
place); and at Las Cruces, New Mexico, the ant 
Dorymyrmex pyramicus attends Icerya rileyi. 


(To be continued.) 


tHE, PENTLAND, Bikes. 


GODFREY. 


are laid down on the wood borders, and prove fatal 
snares for magpies and occasional kestrels and 
crows; unbaited traps are placed on poles on the 
hill-face, or laid on the top of a large stone by the 
streamside, chiefly with the view of snaring the 
dashing little merlin. And the gamekeeper is often 
abroad with his gun, skulking amongst the trees in 
search of the various objects of his aversion. In 
spite of the number of birds annually killed, fresh 
arrivals and birds that have escaped a previous 
persecution are sure to turn up in the following 
season, and the number of vermin always seems 
well up to the average as spring comes round: The 
predominating species vary in different regions of 
the hills. and whilst one or the other may be 
common in certain localities, it may have been in 
others almost exterminated. The magpie forms the 


242 


most striking instance of the truth of this remark, 
being quite unknown or occurring as a very rare 
straggler in some districts, and in others positively 
swarming. Wherever game is protected, the 
magpie becomes one of the chief objects of the 
keeper’s pursuit. During March and April 
trapping and shooting do their work fairly well, 
but not so successfully as to allow of the keeper’s 
resting content. Many birds that have escaped his 
attention and are then nesting have to be sought 
for and destroyed, as every hawk in most keepers’ 
eyes, and every owl in many, lives only to be the 
enemy of game, 

The first nest reported during the past season, 
1896, was a carrion crow’s in course of building, on 
March 2oth. The crow or ‘‘ hoodie ” is perhaps the 
most disliked of all feathered vermin, and he is also 
the most successful at eluding destruction. The 
crow is a common breeding species on the hills, 
nesting in solitary trees by the burnsides as well as 
in clumps of trees and in larger woods, and by his 
cunning he often successfully escapes destruction. 
Yet he is the main cause of the mischief which so 
angers the keeper. In spring and summer he varies 
his carrion diet with eggs, and many a nest of the 
red grouse he harries, sometimes carrying the eggs 
to the neighbourhood of his own nest, but often 
enough sucking them on the spot. In the case of 
the carrion crow, at least, we must side with the 
keeper. Can anything be more irritating to him 
than to see a wood strewn with grouse eggshells ? 
In the nesting season almost every wood yields 
at least one crow’s nest, and in many cases a 
wood may be repeatedly visited without the 
occupied nest being discovered. To obviate loss 
in such instances some keepers destroy by shot 
every large nest in the wood, and thus make sure 
of preventing the escape of young birds. The 
northern ally, the hooded crow, does not breed 
in this area, but occasionally appears in April, 
and again in autumn. I saw one on October 28th 
last, soaring in company with a carrion crow 
above one of the woods. The raven is still rarer, 
but is met with at intervals, and one was reported 
to me during the recent autumn from the eastern 
flank of the hills. 

Our commonest hawk is the kestrel, a sadly 
persecuted bird, and one of whose merits it is 
exceedingly difficult or impossible to convince the 
keepers. The kestrel generally reveals the secret 
of her nesting-place by squealing in the presence 
of an intruder, and too often brings about her own 
destruction ; occasionally, however, she acts differ- 
ently. One of the likely nesting localities noted 
in spring was in a haunt at which a pair was shot 
in 1890, and it was expected that the jackdaw’s 
nest occupied on that occasion would be tenanted 
again; this particular nest, however, remained 
empty, and the silence that reigned on subsequent 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


visits led us to consider that the kestrels had shifted 
their quarters. Late in May, however, my brother 
and a party were exploring this district, and 
caught the kestrel sitting on six eggs in a hole not 
a stone’s throw from the former site. Two days 
afterwards I visited the spot and found the eggs 
warm, but neither saw nor heard the kestrels. The 
birds, however, kept their charge in safety, and later 
in the season my brother took five young birds 
from the hole to rear as pets. 

The merlin is less common and more decidedly 
local than the kestrel, and generally nests by the 
sides of the small heather-clad gullies. On the 
last day of April, a gamekeeper directed me to an 
open wood clump where a pair of hawks were 
evidently intending to nest, and on approaching 
the wood I was greeted by the squealing of a pair 
of merlins as they flew above the trees. I founda 
number of crows’ nests in the wood, and had rather 
a gloomy prospect in looking forward to climbing 
all of ther during a shower of rain in search of 
the merlins’ eggs. I kept my attention on the 
birds however, and presently observed one of them 
hover above a tree and pass on, and I suspected 
that the nest above which the bird had hovered 
would be the chosen nest. When the rain abated 
I climbed the tree and found the nest empty, but 
clean, with the accumulation of pine needles. 
On May oth I returned, and entering the wood 
cautiously, clapped my hands and saw the hawk 
leave this very nest. I again climbed, both 
merlins squealing wildly around. The nest con- 
tained two eggs, and both birds kept careering 
in wide circles around and above the wood and 
occasionally alighted on the tree-tops during 
my stay. On the 15th the keeper shot the 
hen merlin off the eggs and sent me a note. I 
visited him on the 18th, and went with him to 
the nest again. The male had kept by the nest 
for two days after the hen had been shot, but he had 
escaped the keeper’s attempts on his life and had 
now forsaken the nest. On climbing for the third 
time I took the four eggs, and examining the nest 
carefully, I found in addition to the clearing out 
of all rubbish an apparent interlacing of a few 
additicnal twigs on the border of the*nest, which 
must have been the work of the merlins. 

A few days afterwards a second merlin’s nest 
was found amongst the heather—the usual site—in 
a different part of the hills; the eggs were taken, 
but the birds escaped. In the case of a third 
merlin haunt occupied yearly, I was not able to 
find out the fate of the birds during the past 
season. Merlins are less commonly met with in 
winter on the hills, but a hen was shot on 
December 5th last, near one of the local haunts. 

On the hills proper the sparrow-hawk is rare, 
but this species also appears in pairs about parti- 
cular woods at the approach of the breeding 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


season. I was especially anxious to procure a nest 
of the sparrow-hawk last season, and asked the 
keeper to send me word should he meet with 
one. He shot the only pair seen on his ground 
early in the season, and as the summer ad- 
vanced without any others appearing he naturally 
inferred that he had no sparrow - hawks in his 
territory. Late in the summer, however, one of 
his sons came in with the startling information 
that a brood of young hawks were flying about in 
a wood not far from the house, and without any 
delay he went out and shot them. I was not able 
to visit the spot till October, and I then noted 
the particulars of the sparrow-hawk’s nest. It was 
situated in a Scotch fir, about fifteen feet from the 
ground, on the border of a low wood, and was 
supported between several stout branches; in 
bulk it appeared midway between a cushat’s and 
a crow’s. The nest was clearly the work of the 
birds themselves, and was formed wholly of 
twigs, and lined with flakes of fir-bark, sodden by 
the repeated rains. Many legs of birds and other 
portions of skeletons lay on the nest, or were 
entwined amongst the sticks, and one good speci- 
men, with skull, neck and back vertebrz and legs 
complete, showed the powers possessed by the 
hawks of cleaning their victims. In this latter 
case the skull was broken but not severed from 
the neck—a fact which I thought highly interest- 
ing in conjunction with the usual habit in birds of 
prey of tearing off their victims’ heads. 

Owls fare somewhat better than hawks in our 
area, though they too have their enemies, and 
offer easy marks for destruction when persecution 
is directed against them. The long-eared owl is 
the only common species on the hills, and is 
generally found frequenting open clumps of wood- 
land; the tawny owl is abundant enough in the 
policies skirting the hills, but does not as a rule 
inhabit the small open fir-woods. In autumn, 
the short-eared owl is occasionally met with 
amongst the heather. In early summer four 
localities were noted as occupied by the long- 
eared species, and in the two instances where 
the nesis were found, an old magpie’s had in 
each case been chosen. One of these proved 
interesting as being the same nest that had been 
occupied and robbed in the previous season, and 
it would have escaped scrutiny on this occasion 
had not one of the young fallen out of the nest and 
attracted the keeper's attention as he passed 
through the wood. At the first opportunity I 
climbed the occupied tree and found the two 
downy youngsters sitting head to tail, their bright 
golden eyes making them appear much smarter 
little fellows than do the dark, watery-looking 
eyes of the tawny owl. Somewhat later in the 
season I climbed again and found the young owls 
in a defiant attitude; one of them to prevent 


243 


capture got over the edge of the nest, but, being 
unable to fly, was easily driven to the ground, and 
its companion was taken down in my pocket. On 
the ground the young owl ruffled its plumage and 
spread out its wings in a rounded manner and sat 
like a defiant turkey, ready to resist all attacks, 
and kept chuckling constantly the while. One of 
the birds died after a few weeks’ captivity, but the 
other is still thriving beside four kestrels ; he never 
quarrels with them, and even allows them by day 
to take out of his bill without any remonstrance 
pieces of flesh that have been given him. As 
night draws on he becomes lively and utters a 
low, peculiar call to hasten my visit, and as soon 
as he sees me coming he spreads out his wings 
till he appears four or five times his real bulk, 
and lowers his head in readiness to pounce on 
a mouse or a piece of beef as soon as I present it, 
but after being fed he resumes silence. 

The species included in the keeper’s vermin list 
afford to the lover of nature some of the most 
interesting studies in our native wild life, and they 
ought not to be ruthlessly subjected to persecu- 
tion as they are, especially as, in the case of the 
kestrel and the owls, the birds do more good than 
harm. 


46, Cumberland Street, Edinburgh ; 
January 7th, 1897. 


A WHALE AT BoscomBe. — A correspondent 
writes: ‘‘ Private enterprise, especially when directed 
in the cause of Science, deserves a better fate than 
befell Dr. Simpson, of Bournemouth. Buying a 
whale, in his case, proved a very serious matter. A 
dead whale, measuring 65 feet in length and 24 feet 
in girth, and weighing nearly 40 tons, was washed 
ashore at Boscombe early in January. On in- 
vestigation it was proved that the death of the 
huge creature was due to having its back broken, 
in all probability by contact with some vessel in the 
open sea. The carcase, believed to be the largest 
ever landed on the local coast, was sold by auction 
at the instruction of the Receiver of Wrecks. The 
sale attracted a large number of persons. The 
bidding was not very brisk. The opinion was 
that the Bournemouth Town Council would them- 
selves purchase the carcase with a view to having it 
preserved in a local museum, but unfortunately 
there is no such institution at present in the town, 
so the bidding was left to private individuals, and 
the whale was knocked down to Dr. Simpson, of 
Bournemouth, when the bid had reached £27. 
But the creature soon brought trouble to the 
doctor. The removal of the skeleton from the 
beach, so as to provide for its permanent preserva- 
tion, did not prove so easy as the buying, and 
before any attempt could be made for its removal 
the whale underwent changes that made the 
carcase a nuisance to the town, so much so 
that the sanitary authorities bestirred themselves. 
Dr. Simpson will in all probability be anxious 
to forget the incident; at any rate he deserves 
forgetfulness of the offending carcase, whilst it 
remains to be hoped that its scattered bones will 
be brought together as a complete skeleton for the 
benefit of posterity.”’ 


arr 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ARMATURE OF HELICOID LANDSHELLS. 


By G. K. GubE, F.Z.S. 


(Continued from page 207.) 


LECTOPYLIS cyclaspis (figs. 34a-d), from 
Tenasserim, Burma, was first described by 

Mr. Benson, under the name of Helix catinus, in the 
*‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History” (3), 
iii. (859), p. 185, but that name being preoccupied 
in Helix he changed it to Helix cyclaspis (loc. cit., 
p- 273). Having received additional material, 
which enabled him to examine the armature, he 
subsequently published an amended description 
(loc. cit. (3), v. (£860), p. 245). The shell was first 
figured in Hanley and Theobald’s ‘* Conchologia 
Indica,” t. 13, f. 0 (1870). The anatomy has been 
figured by Mr. F. Stoliczka in the “* Journal of the 
Asiatic Society of Bengal,” x1. (1871), p- 222, t. 15, 
ff. 4-6, and by Mr. Pilsbry in ‘‘ Manual of 
Conchology, ix. (1895), t. 42, ff. 34-36, while the 
palatal armature has been illustrated by Lieut.- 


Fig. 34.—Plectopylis cyclaspis. 


Colonel Godwin-Austen in the “ Proceedings of the 
Zoological Society,” 1874, t. 74,f. 10. The shell is 
sinistral, depressed-conical, widely umbilicated; 
irr rly ribbed above, smoother below, hornish 
brown, with the suture margined ; it is composed 
of six and a-half or seven slowly increasing whorls, 
the last not descending in front, and having an acute, 
compressed keel. The peristome is thickened and re- 
flexed and its margins are united by a raised straight 
ridge; the parietal callus bears a short, strong 
horizontal entering fold, entirely visible from the 
aperture (see fig. 34a). The parietal armature con- 
sists of a strong and very complicated ramified plate, 
which ascends obliquely from theside of the aperture 
near to the suture, where it bifurcates, one arm— 
the upper one—ascending a little, then proceeding 


horizontally, and finally becoming attenuated; the 
lower and stronger one descends obliquely at an 
angle of 45° for about half its length, then 
deflects almost vertically and gives off posteriorly 
at its base a short strong support. The lower 
extremity of the main plate gives off anteriorly 
also a strong short support. Below the plate is a 
free, short, horizontal fcld. The specimen shown 
with the outer wall removed in fig. 346 is not quite 
mature, and it possesses the former plate, which is 
evidently in course of absorption, as the second 
descending arm has almost disappeared, and the 
lower free fold is also very slight. The palatal 
armature consists of five folds: the first, thin, near 
and almost parallel with the suture; the second, 
broad and flexuous, descending obliquely posteriorly, 
half above and half below the peripherial keel; the 
third, also broad and somewhat crescent-shaped ; 
the fourth, very strong, broad and vertical, and 
intercalating with the main stem and lower branch 
of the parietal plate; the fifth, thin, horizontal and 
parallel with the lower suture. Fig. 34¢ shows 
the parietal and palatal armature from the anterior 
side, while 34d shows the inside of **2 outer wall 
with its palatal folds. At the base of the vertical 
palatal fold on the right side—i.e. posteriorly— 
occurs a small denticle, shown erroneously in 
fig. 34d, on the left side. Fig. 34a shows a mature 
specimen, natural size; the other figures are all 
magnified. The twospecimens are from Moulmain, 
Burma, and are in the collection of Mr. Ponsonby. 
The mature specimen measures—major diameter, 
17 millimetres; minor diameter, 14.5 millimetres ; 
axis, 7 millimetres. 

Plectopylis karenorum (figs. 35a-d), from Pegu, was 
described by Mr. W. T. Blanford in the ‘‘ Journal 
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,” xxxiv. (1865), 
part 2, p. 73, and figured by Dr. Pfeiffer in 
““Novitates Conchologicae,” iti. (1860), 12 “08? 
ff. 16-18, and in Hanley and Theobald’s *‘ Con- 
chologia Indica,” t. 13, f. 6 (1870). The armature 
was figured by Lieut.-Colonel Godwin Austen in 
the ‘‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” 1874, 
t. 74, 1.5. According to Mr. G. Nevill (‘‘ Handlist 
of Mollusca in the Indian Museum, Calcuita ” (1878) 
Pp. 72), the species has also been found in the Arakan 
Hills. The shell is sinistral, disk-shaped, with the 
apex a litile raised above the flattened spire, with 
a wide but shallow umbilicus, white with light 
chestnut strigatious, finely ribbed, with micro- 
scopic spiral sculpture. It is composed of six 
closely-coiled whorls, which increase slowly, the 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


last being a little wider than the preceding, 
angulated above the periphery and descending 
anteriorly. The peristome is white, somewhat 
thin, but reflexed; the parietal callus has a raised 
flexuous ridge, separated from the lower margin of 
the peristome and notched at its junction with the 
upper margin. The parietal armature consists of 
a long horizontal fold, united to the ridge at the 
aperture, and proceeding parallel with the last 
whorl for a quarter of its length, at which point it 


Fig. 35.—Plectopylis karenorum. 


gives off a shortly descending arm; it then 
rises obliquely for a short distance and finally 
bifurcates, the lower arm of the bifurcation being 
the longer, and obliquely descending, while the 
upper arm is slightly curved backwards; the 
single arm fist mentioned has posteriorly at its 
lower termination a short obliquely descending 
ridge, and a little higher up anteriorly a stronger 
obliquely ascending ridge, while the lower arm 
of the bifurcation has posteriorly at its lower 
termination a short obliquely descending ridge, 
(see fig. 35a). Below this complicated plate 
there is a free, thin horizontal fold close to the 
lower suture, also united to the ridge at the 
aperture (see also fig. 35, which shows both 
armatures from the side of the aperture, and 
fig. 35c, which gives their posterior view). The 
palatal armature consists of: first, a thin and long 
horizontal fold parallel with and near the suture: 
secondly, another thin but shorter fold which at 
first proceeds horizontally, then suddenly deflects 
posteriorly with a slight curve backwards, a small 
denticle occurring posteriorly in a line with the 
main horizontal portion ; thirdly, a short, some- 
what stouter, crescent-shaped fold, with its concave 
side facing the aperture and lower suture; fourthly, 
a strong vertical fold, with two minute denticles 
posteriorly near its lower end; and fifthly, a thin 
horizontal fold, slightly reflexed in the middle 
(see fig. 35d, which shows the inside of the outer 
wall). The specimen figured is in the collection 
of Mr. Ponsonby; it measures 13°5 millimetres 
in diameter. 

In looking over the specimens of Plectopylis of 


245 


the McAndrew collection in the University Museum 
of Zoology, Cambridge, I found three specimens 
labelled Plectopylis burmani, Benson, doubtless a 
misspelling for P. buymanica, one of Mr. Benson's 
MS. names. On comparing them with Plectopylis 
kavenorum, I found them to belong to that species. 
As I have reason to think that P. kavenoyum exists 
in some collections under the name of P. buymanica, 
and as, moreover, this MS. name was never, to 
my knowledge, published by Mr. Benson, I have 
thought it useful te make mention of the above 
fact. 

Plectopylis laomontana (figs. 36a-c), from Laos, 
was described by Dr. Pfeiffer in the ‘‘ Proceedings 
of the Zoological Society,’’ 1862, p. 272, and 
figured by him in “ Novitates Conchologicae,” ii., 
t. 57, ff. 7-9 (1863). It was also figured in 
Mouhot’s ‘‘ Travels in the Central parts of Indo- 
China (Siam), Cambodia, and Laos,” ii. (1864), 
figs.g and to. As the armature has not hitherto 
been figured, Iam pleased to have had the oppor- 
tunity of doing so. The shell is solid, disk-shaped, 
with the apex scarcely raised above the flattened 
spire, chestnut brown, finely ribbed above, 
smoother below, with scarcely any trace of spiral 
sculpture. It is composed of six or six and a-half 
whorls, the last of which widens rather suddenly, 
descends abruptly and shortly in front, and is 
slightly constricted behind the peristome, which 
is whitish, thickened and reflexed, and has its 
margins united by the raised, slightly curved ridge 
of the parietal callus, but a little notch occurs at 
the junctions above and below. The parietal 
armature consists of a single strong, solid lunate 
plate, with its concave side facing the aperture, 
and deflexed posteriorly below. (See fig. 36), 
which gives the posterior view of both armatures.) 
The palatal armature consists of: first, a short 
horizontal fold near the suture; secondly, a stouter 


Fig. 36.—Plectopylis laomontana. 


and somewhat longer horizontal fold, shortly 
bifurcated posteriorly, the upper arm proceeding 
horizontally, and the lower and shorter one 
descending obliquely; thirdly, a shorter stout fold 
which proceeds at first nearly horizontally, then 
deflects a little about the middle, the anterior half 
being a little indented; fourthly, a short, stout, 
straight fold, descending a little obliquely pos- 
teriorly, and also a little indented in the anterior 
half; fifthly, another straight, short, stout fold, also 


246 SCIBNGCE-GOSSIP: 


descending a little obliquely posteriorly, strongly 
indented in the middle; sixthly, two short, stout, 
slightly oblique folds, the posterior a little 
higher than the anterior one; seventhly, a 
short and thinner horizontal fold near the 
lower suture, with an elongated tooth a little 
above (see fig. 36c, which shows the inside of the 
outer wall with its palatal folds). The large form 
of this species, which is regarded as the type, I have 
been unable to obtain; it is said to measure 32 
millimetres in diameter, and to show all the palatal 
folds through the shell-wall. A small variety, 
stated by Dr. Pfeiffer not to show the palatal folds 
externally, measures 21 millimetres. The specimen 
figured, which is from Louang Prabang, Laos, 
measures 19 millimetres in diameter, and does not 
show the folds through the shell; it is in Mr. 
Ponsonby’s collection. A specimen in my collec- 
tion, however, measuring 21 millimetres, distinctly 
shows the folds through the shell-wall. 

Plectopylis brachyplecta (figs. 37a-f), from Moul- 
main, was described by Mr. Benson in the ‘‘ Annals 
and Magazine of Natural History,” (3), xi. (1863), 
p- 319, and figured in Hanley and Theobald’s 
*‘Conchologia Indica,” t. 57, ff. 7 and 10 (1870). The 
armature was figured by Lieut.-Colonel Godwin- 
Austen in the ‘‘ Proceedings of the Zoological 
Society, 1874, t. 74, f. 8. The shell is disk-shaped, 
widely umbilicated, dull-reddish chestnut, with 


= ASM ™ mM) 


Fig. 37.—Plectopylis brachyplecta. 


amber-coloured apex, paler below, finely and 
regularly ribbed, and decussated by minute spiral 
sculpture. It is composed of six or six and a-half 
more or less convex whorls, which increase slowly, 
the last being rounded and subangulated above, 
near the suture, and shortly and abruptly descend- 
ing in front. The aperture is ear-shaped, and the 
peristome brown, strongly thickened and a little 
reflexed, its slightly converging margins being 
joined by a thickened curved ridge, which 
is slightly notched at the junctions above and 
below. A strong entering flexuous fold is given 
off from the parietal ridge, revolving over 


less than a quarter of a whorl. The parietal 
armature further consists of two strong, vertical, 
slightly curved parallel plates; the anterior one 
has a short horizontal support posteriorly below, 
and a strong horizontal ridge anteriorly above; 
the posterior one gives off on the posterior side two 
short supports, one above and one below. A short, 
free horizontal fold occurs below the vertical 
plates. Fig. 37d shows the parietal wall with its 
plates and the fold, while fig. 37f gives the anterior 
view of both parietal and palatal armatures. The 
palatal armature consists of: first, a thin horizontal 
fold near the suture; next, four short, broad, oblique, 
nearly parallel folds, whose lower concave sides 
face the aperture; finally, a short thin horizontal 
fold near the lower suture. A little above the 
second fold and united to its posterior extremity 
occurs a very short straight fold, while another 
short, slight oblique fold is found between the 
posterior ends of the fifth and sixth folds. (See 
fig. 37¢, which shows the inside of the outer wall 
with its palatal folds.) Figs. 37d-f are drawn 
from one of the type specimens from Moulmain 
in the McAndrew collection of the University 
Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, the shells having 
been lent for this purpose by Mr. S. F. Harmer, 
the Superintendent. It measures—major diameter, 
22 millimetres; minor diameter, 18 millimetres; 
axis, 8 millimetres. Among the shells of the genus 
Plectopylis in the British Museum, I found two 
specimens in the Theobald collection, labelled 
Plectopylis clathvatula, Benson, from Balcadua, 
Ceylon. I am not aware that Mr. Benson ever 
published this name, but Dr. Pfeiffer described a 
species belonging to a different section of the 
genus, from Ceylon, under that name. As no 
species of the section to which these three shells 
belong has ever been found in Ceylon, it is 
probable that there is a mistake in the locality, 
and it is certain that the name is wrong. 
Judging from the external resemblances to Plec- 
topylis brachyplecta, I suspected that these shells 
would prove to pertain to that species, and 
having obtained permission from Mr. Edgar Smith, 
the Assistant Keeper, to open one of the shells, I 
was enabled to confirm my suspicién, for the 
armature proved to be identical with that of P. 
brachyplecta. One of these specimens is shown in 
three different positions in figs. 37a-c. It measures— 
major diameter, 22 millimetres; minor diameter, 
18°5 millimetres; axis, 8 millimetres. 


(To be continued.) 


ErRRATA.—Lieut.-Colonel Godwin Austen has kindly drawn 
my attention to the following errors: p. 205, second column, 
fifth line from top, for Henozdan, read Hengdan ; eighth line 
from top, for Kopameda, read Kopamedza. He also states 
that the locality given for Mr. Ponsonby’s specimen of 
Plectopylis sérica, Sylhet, is impossible, as these species are 
very local, and one found on the summit of a range of 5,000 
feet and upwards is not likely to occur in a country like 
Sylhet, only just above the level of the sea. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


247 


NATURE NOTES IN THE RIVIERA. 


By Joun T. CARRINGTON. 


HE Riviera, like most other parts of the 
northern hemisphere, is susceptible to con- 
siderable variation of atmospheric conditions in 
different seasons. The Riviera of southern France, 
and also of northern Italy, is a narrow strip 
bordering the shore of the Mediterranean, extend- 
ing from a little east.of Marseilles as far as Genoa. 
It occupies the space between the high hills which 
terminate the different ranges that constitute the 
southern spurs of the Alps. As a rule the 
climate is remarkably equable; but the past two 
winters have been notable, the one for extreme 
dryness, the other for unusual wetness. The 
winter 1895-6 was characteristic until the last 
week in December, when fine sunny weather 
commenced, and lasted almost without inter 
mission until the following August. This winter 
has been exceptionally rainy, although there was, 
up to the middle of December, many of those 
deliciously fine days which remind one so much of 
early June in England. Since then there have 
been some on which the rain has fallen with 
tropical intensity, filling the usually dry torrent 
beds which come down to the sea from the Maritime 
Alps. 

I arrived at Marseilles about the middle of 
October and spent some little time in the neighbour- 
hood. For the botanist, the malacologist, entomo- 
logist, and indeed the student of natural history 
generally, the district surrounding that large city 
affords many opportunities for research. So far as 
I could discover there are unfortunately but few 
amateur naturalists in the district. This is the 
more unexpected as I know of few cities in Europe 
possessing so fine a museum of natural science 
objects, where students may compare their captures 
for nomenclature or otherwise. This museum 
occupies the right wing of the Palace which was 
presented to the city some time ago by the Empress 
Eugeénie. It is admirably arranged, well lighted, 
and bears.evidence of the fostering care of a clever 
curator. The great feature for the amateur in this 
museum is a beautiful and extensive collection of 
natural history subjects typical of the marine and 
terrestrial fauna and flora of Provence, which 
literally represents the littoral of Mediterranean 
France. This collection occupies a very large 
room, and by its aid any collector may identify 
species which present difficulties to him. Should 
he be unable to do so he will find polite attention 
from officials in charge, so that it must indeed 
be something exceptional to defy their united 
experience. : 

The collection of landshells in the local collection 


at Marseilles is only equalled by that of the marine 
species. In the former will be found liberal series 
of all southern French species containing a large 
number of varieties and some curious monstrous 
forms. What strikes one immediately on seeing 
some of these is the large size to which several species 
attain. For instance, among examples of Helix 
aspersa found in the neighbourhood of Marseilles are 
specimens as large as some that occur in Algeria. 

Any visitor to the Riviera interested in natural 
science should not fail to break the journey at 
Marseilles, for at least a day, so as to examine this 
fine collection. Should it happen on the visit that 
the museum is found to be closed, no difficulty will 
be encountered in obtaining admission by applying 
at the house of the conciérge, which will be found 
at the right-hand corner of the basement. While 
writing of this museum, two or three others in 
the Riviera may be mentioned. There is one of 
natural history at the museum in Toulon. I have 
not had an opportunity of visiting this establish- 
ment for four or five years, when it was only just 
opened and very incomplete. The museum at 
Cannes is at the public offices of the town, 
where there is also a small collection of local 
animals. Among landshells of the region are 
several good series, especially notable being some 
immense specimens of Helix pomatia, which exceed 
in size any I have previously seen. The curator 
informed me that these were found in the neigh- 
bourhood of Grasse which lies inland some few 
miles north of Cannes. 

At Nice there is a compact little museum, which 
has become the property of the city through the 
gift of a gentleman, who died on November 5th 
last, at the age of seventy-nine years. He was 
M. Jean Baptiste Barla, a gentleman of private 
means. Born at Nicois, he lived all his life in the 
neighbourhood of that city. He was a botanist, 
possessing an exceptional knowledge of the plants of 
the Department of Alpes Maritimes and the adjoin- 
ing Department of Var, the Principality of Monaco 
and western Italy. His herbarium, which is now 
at the museum, is considered to be a nearly com- 
plete representation of the plants of both the 
French and Italian Riviera. The series of each 
species contain a large number of specimens for 
comparison from other regions, including Algiers 
and other parts of North Africa, as well as Corsica, 
Sardinia, Sicily, Spain, Italy, etc. This herbarium 
contains about two thousand species of flowering 
plants, which are in good condition and well 
arranged. The curator of the museum is M. J. 
Olivier, who is himself an excellent botanist. He 


248 


gladly shows any species, family or natural order 
which is desired for comparison or examination. 

The leading feature in the Nice Museum is the 
magnificent collection of upwards of 700 groups 
representing life-size models, no less than 3,000 in 
number, of more than 500 species of fungi found in 
the immediate neighbourhood of Nice. These are 
all constructed of plaster cf Paris from moulds made 
from original specimens, and coloured with life-like 
accuracy. This collection, which took thirty years 
to complete, was made entirely unaided by M. Barla 
above referred to, who was also an excellent crypto- 
gamic botanist. It is, I believe, unique as a 
collection, and cannot be too widely known. I 
understand from M. Olivier that M. Barla identified 
no less than 2,000 species of fungi in the Depart- 
ment of Alpes Maritimes. The Nice Museum 
contains also collections of birds, fish, shells 
and other animals. The shells will probably be 
re-arranged and cleaned before long, as they do 
not appear to have been recently overhauled. 
The rarest shell we observed in the collection 
was Bulimus labio, a scarce Peruvian land species. 
Among recent additions we noticed a fine ex- 
ample of the uncommon sea-shell, Mitra zonata, of 
Swainson, which is preserved in spirit, with the 
animal protruding to some extent from the shell. 
This was found, in June last, by fishermen in deep 
waters some little distance south of Nice. 

It may be interesting to remark that the museums 
above referred to are free of admittance, and, 
generally, open to students by special application, 
even during hours when closed to the public. 

Nice; January 1st, 1897. 
(To be continued.) 


KINGFISHER IN THE HEBDEN VALLEY.—Mr. 
J. Needham, of Hebden Bridge, reports in the 
“ Halifax Naturalist” that a pair of kingfishers 
were seen in Hebden Valley, about Lee Mill, fora 
week or two, but unfortunately people with guns 
saw them, and one was shot. Some years ago the 
kingfisher was rather abundant about Lee Mill 
and Dog Bottom, but of late appears to have 
grown almost extinct. A new fishing club has 
recently been started which has stocked the 
river with trout, and Mr. Needham thinks this 
has probably attracted the kingfisher. 


A KILLARNEY correspondent states that the 
fishing of the Killarney Lakes has been seriously 
damaged, if not ruined, by the recent bog slide at 
the Quarry Lodge. The close season terminated 
on January 16th, and never before has the fishery 
opened under such unfavourable auspices, the 
“takes” on the three lakes amounting to only 
seven salmon. The weather in the first place 
was not favourable, and the lower lakes are dis- 
coloured by the boggy débris conveyed into it by 
the Ownacre and Flesk rivers, and until this dis- 
appears prosperous fishing cannot be hoped for. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ABNORMAL SCABIOUS. 


HE abnormal flower of Scabiosa arvensis, a 
sketch of which, on scale of one-half natural 

size, I send you, was found some years since in a 
cornfield, and although diligent search has since 
been made for another such specimen, it appears to 
be unique, at any rate as far as my experience goes. 
It also appears to be as good an illustration as is 
often found of the claims of some writers as to 


ABNORMAL SCABIOSA ARVENSIS. 


composite flowers having originated from simpler 
forms for the purpose of becoming more attractive 
to insect visitors. If this is the case, is not the 
single floret in its separate involucre and on a 
separate stalk at some little distance below a full- 
sized and perfectly normal flower, a proof of the 
correctness of their views ? 
EpwIn E TURNER. 
Coggeshall, Essex ; January 14th, 1897. 


‘‘ Nature,” for January 14th, contains an article 
on the “‘ Bog Slide of Knocknageeha, in the county 
of Kerry,” by Mr. Grenville Cole. Speaking of the 
origin of the disastrous bog slide, he says that it 
must be compared with the phenomenon of surface- 
creep. The ridging of soils upon steep hillsides is 
a similar but milder form of this sliding motion. 
In peat-bogs the water finds its way out in numerous 
channels into the main stream of some neighbouring 
valley, and the banks of these channels are 
always in a state of flux. During stormy weather 
the black, saturated lower layers of the bog are 
washed out in far larger quantities than the brown 
and dryer upper layers, as there is very little 
cohesion between the lower layers and the 
impermeable clay or other material which underlies 
the whole. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


- Ee \, = x - 


TW WPS Ay LAU FAR 
i EN TENE) 


NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 


An Introduction to Structural Botany. Part mu. 
Flowerless Plants. By DvukKINFIELD HENRY 
SCODt,) Meat bhe DS EMRnS.,etCun 312) pp ovo, 


illustrated by 114 figures. (London: Adam and 
Charles Black, 1896.) Price 3s. 6d. 

The second part of Dr. Scott’s admirable manual 
of structural botany is now before us. It consists 
of a most carefully worked out history of the 
structure of flowerless plants, which constitute 
more than half of the vegetable world. Professor 
Scott commences his work with details of the 
external characters of Selaginella kraussiana, as a 
type of the vascular cryptogams, following with 
the internal characters of the vegetative organs, and 
concludes with the reproduction and life-history. 
The same plan also obtains with the male fern 
Aspidium felix-mas. The ‘‘horse-tail” (Equisetum) 
and liverworts are followed by the mosses and 
alge; the fungi, bacteri and myxomycetes, with 
a summary in conclusion, completing his work. 
In the former volume, Part i., Dr. Scott was 
enabled to give the main outlines of the struc- 
ture of flowering plants by a full description of 


three representative types, but the great variety _ 


of organization among the flowerless plants has 
rendered necessary no less than twenty-three types. 
This large number even is hardly sufficient, as we 
observe more than one important group is treated 
generally and not specially. Still, the material 
particulars of the life-histories shown so clearly in 
this work will enable students of cryptogams to 
easily correlate the others, after studying the 
material described in this manual. Dr. Scott’s 
style is so lucid that the veriest beginner will 
find pleasure as well as instruction in the pages 
of his work. To the ordinary reader who knows 
but little of the lower forms of plant life many of 
the facts will come as a revelation, especially with 
regard to the organs and manner of reproduction ; 
which section of the life-history of these forms is 
treated with much fulness and modern information. 
Dr. Scott’s position in the Royal Gardens at Kew, 
as Honorary Keeper of the Jodrell Laboratory, and 
his previous work as a professor in biology of the 
Royal College of Science, London, give a tone of 
authority for this book which will carry consider- 
able weight with its readers. The work and its 
illustrations have been admirably produced by the 
publishers. It is one which cannot fail to hold its 
place among the most thoughtful of students of 
botany. 


The Lepidoptera of the British Islands. Vol. iii. 
Heterocera, Bombyces, Noctuz. 3096 pp. large 8vo. 
By CuHarLes G. Barrett, F.E.S. (London: L. 
Reeve and Co., 1896.) Price 12s. 

Mr. Barrett's great work on the British Lepidop- 
tera is proceeding as fast as we could expect, 
considering the magnitude of his undertaking. 
There is no attempt on his part to found new 
theories or even to support in the least measure 
those of other modern writers. He goes steadily 
on the well-trodden path laid down in the first half 
of this century by Stainton, Newman, Doubleday, 


249 


and the school of their period. For the British 
lepidopterist who cares more for his collection 
than the study of the morphology of our butterflies 
and moths, this work will provide endless interest. 
The notes appearing after the descriptions of the 
species are most valuable, because they contain 
the vast experience accumulated by Mr. Barrett 
during a long period of active field work. Added 
to these notes, the author has drawn largely upon 
the collecting experience of some of our best-known 
workers. It is seldom that one can find fault with 
a statement relative to the life-history of a British 
species of lepidoptera by Mr. Barrett, as his 
knowledge of the order is usually most exact. 
He should, however, use great care in the choice of 
expressions, when dealing with the records of 
others, unless he has serious reason to doubt their 
trustworthiness We cannot imagine that the 
author, while writing of Gastropacha ilicifolia, means 
that he doubts its occurrence in Yorkshire, when he 
says, on page 48, ‘‘ About the same time larve are 
said to have been found on the moors near Sheffield 
and Ripon.” The word ‘‘said”’ in that sentence 
seems to throw a doubt upon what many people 
know to bea fact, and may lead students in a future 
generation, when those now living who can vouch 
for the truth of the captures of G. ilicifolia have 
passed away, to imagine there was some doubt in our 
time about the fact. We think this last volume is an 
advance upon the two previous ones, as Mr. Barrett 
has evidently greater interest in and larger know- 
ledge of the habits of the Noctuz. We sincerely 
trust that the author may be spared to continue 
his work until he reaches the section of Micro- 
Lepidoptera, and we can only regret that he did not 
induce the publishers to commence the work with 
that division, for few living men have a greater 
knowledge of the life-histories included therein. 


Life in Ponds and Streams. By W. FURNEAUX, 
F.R.G.S. 406 pp. 8vo, illustrated with 8 coloured 
plates and 311 figures in the text. (London: 
Longmans, Green and Co., 1896). Price 12s, 6d. 

This handsomely produced book is another 
volume of Messrs. Longmans’ ‘‘Outdoor World 
Library,” and is an excellently compiled account 
of freshwater life and its collection. The book is 
divided into two parts, the first five chapters being 
devoted to ‘‘ The Collector's Work, the remainder 
being on ‘‘Life in Ponds and Streams.” Mr. 
Furneaux appears to have taken considerable pains 
to bring into his pages every subject which is likely 
to be met with by the amateur in his first few 
seasons, and the book will be found useful to many 
young people who, in the early spring, are searching 
for some interesting occupation for the coming 
year. It is hardly necessary to say that such works 
as this are of the utmost value in popularizing a 
taste for the study of nature. Any shortcomings 
may be readily overlooked in the good which 
will be effected by the publication of a work of 
this kind, and we cannot sufficiently compliment 
the publishers on its production. 


Catalogue of the Minerals of Tasmania. By 
W. F. PETTEREL. 103 pp. 8vo. (Launceston: 
‘‘ Examiner’ Office, 1896.) Price 2s. 6d. 

This is something more than a Catalogue of 
Minerals, because many of the names are accom- 
panied by interesting notes upon the position in 
which the subject is found, and the rarity or other- 
wise as well as the range of its distribution in the 
Colony of Tasmania. For instance, take ‘‘ No. 34, 
Beryl (silicate of aluminium and glucina). The 
true emerald has not, so far, been found here, but 


250 


hexagonal prisms that are colourless to bluish-green 
have been obtained at Flinders Island; and, also, as 
water-worn pebbles in Stanniferole’s Drift, at 
Mount Cameron. At the last locality a fairly good 
example was obtained some years ago. It consisted 
of a portion of a crystal about an inch in diameter 
and the same in length; it had the true hexagonal 
form and characteristic cleavage, and the colour 
was dull green, with a translucent appearance. 
The stone was mistaken by the miners for the 
peculiar form of copper ore. More recently 
another specimen was obtained in the drift of 
almost the same colouration, rather less in 
diameter, but nearly three inches in length. Near 
the Great Republic Tin Mine, at Ben Loman, this 
mineral has been discovered in exceptionally large 
and well-formed crystal groups. The find occurred 
in surface trenching across the granite rock, 
when a somewhat large quantity of beryl was 
exposed, intimately associated with extremely 
large and fine crystals of orthoclase. Many of 
the individual crystals of the beryl measured fully 
ten inches in length, and nearly two inches in 
thickness. The colour is unusual, being a mottled 
yellow-brown, with a dull lustre on the exterior 
surface." Then follows an analysis. We quote 
this as an example of the original notes in this 
little book, which cannot fail to be useful to the 
mineral collector. 


Fuel and Refractory Materials. By A. HuMBoLDT 
SEXTON, F.I.C., F.C.S. 350 pp. 8vo, 104 illus- 
trations. (London: Blackie and Sons, Limited, 
1897.) Price 5s. 

This work, though mainly intended for the use of 
students, will also be found to meet the requirements 
of engineers and others who require information-on 
the subject of ‘‘ fuel” for practical purposes. The 
author states in his preface that it is written to 
meet a want he has felt for many years, ic. a 
manual, treating concisely and comprehensively of 
fuel, and yet holding a place between such 
exhaustive treatises as those of Dr. Percy and 
others, and the brief outlines of the subject which 
are to be found in manuals on metallurgy. The 
book commences with the theory of combustion 
and the chemical action and re-action of various 
combustibles. From this the author passes to the 
heating powers of different fuels. Mr. Humboldt 
repudiates Welter’s law, that the heat evolved by a 
fuel when burned is proportional to the amount of 
oxygen with which it combines ; he maintains that 
this can only be correct where there is no change 
of state or chemical change except combination ; 
“but as in all solid fuels the solid carbon is 
converted into the gaseous form, the law breaks 
down and is of no practical use.” Wood, peat and 
the various forms of coal are carefully analysed, 
and their respective heating powers shown by 
chemical formula. Pyrometry,calorimetry, and the 
utilization of fuel are also comprehensively dealt 
with. Chapter xv. is devoted to refractory 
materials. There is a good list of references at 
the end of the book and a most useful index, which 
will be a boon to many students who require the 
work only for reference. 


A New Course of Elementary Chemistry, including 
the Principles of Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis. 
By JoHN CasTELL-Evans, F.I.C. 237 pp. 8vo. 
(London: Thomas Murby.) Price 2s. 6d. 

This is the third edition of this work, which 
aims at being more than a mere _ text-book 
for examinations, and ‘‘is intended to help 
students to attain a real knowledge of scientific 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


chemistry.» The problems are chiefly original, 
and are only in very few instances to be found 
in any other text-books. The author commences 
by making his readers fully conversant with 
the British and foreign system of units. This 
he does by giving problems to be worked from 
one system to the other; also in the varying 
theometric scales of Fahrenheit, centigrade, and 
Réamur. There is a full account of all data 
required to obtain the heat of sulphuric acid 
from its elements, and the mode of calculation 
therefrom. The method in which the kinetic 
theory of gases can be deduced is detailed in a 
very clear manner. Part li. consists of chemical 
analysis, with detailed accounts of each experi- 
ment. To this edition an appendix has been 
added containing a few easy inorganic preparations. 


Allen’s Naturalists’ Library. A Handbook to the 
Game-birds. By W. R. OGitviz-GrRanT. Vol. ii, 
316 pp. 8vo. Illustrated by 18 plates. (London: 
W. Allen and Co., Limited, 1897.) Price 6s. 

Volume ii. of this useful series deals with 
pheasants (continued from vol. i.), megapodes, 
curassows, hoatzins and bustard-quails. These 
two volumes contain the names of every known 
species of game-bird, and may therefore be con- 
sidered a monograph of the Galline. The subject 
has been treated in this work ina similar manner 
to vol. i. To ensure exactitude the author has 
carefully compared and revised his descriptions 
with the specimens of these birds in the British 
Museum. Whitehead’s bustard quail (Turnix white- 
headi) is described by him for the first time in this 
work. It was found at Manila by Mr. John 
Whitehead, after whomit wasnamed. This species 
is most like the male of T. dussumieri in size and 
markings, but the general colour is different. 
Another new species mentioned is Cholmley’s see- 
see partridge (Ammoperdix cholmleyi), discovered by 
Mr. A. J. Cholmley in the Erba Mountains, near 
Suakim, during a recent trip to the Soudan. The 
adult female is similar to the female of A. heyi. 


A Dictionary of Birds—By ALFRED NEWTON, 
assisted by Hans Gapow. Part iv., 379 pp. 
Illustrated. (London: Adam and Charles Black, 
1896. 

Hee is the last part of Mr. Newton’s compre- 
hensive work. The three previous volumes have 
been already noticed in these pages. Part iv. 
contains the Index and a lengthy Introduction to 
the entire work. In this Mr. Newton gives a short 
history of the study of ornithology, commencing 
with Aristotle, who was the first serious writer on 
birds with whose works we are acquainted. This 
classic naturalist only mentions about 170 different 
sorts of birds, which he divides into eight prin- 
cipal groups. His observations and descriptions 
are so meagre—being chiefly physiological—that 
it is impossible for his commentators to deter- 
mine with any certainty what were the birds 
of which he wrote. Though other writers on 
ornithology appeared at long intervals, the first 
to issue a work conceived in anything like 
the spirit that moves modern naturalists was 
William Turner, a Northumbrian, who, while 
living abroad to avoid the persecutions, printed at 
Cologne, in 1544, a commentary on the birds 
mentioned by Aristotle and Pliny» This work was 
reprinted at Cambridge in 1823 by the late Dr. 
George Thackeray. The Introduction, as will be 
seen, is well worth reading, not only by those who 
have devoted themselves to the study of ornithology, 
but by all who wish to have a general knowledge of 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


the subject and of the work which has been done in 
it. The author comments on the fact that general 
works on ornithology have become fewer in the 
following manner: ‘‘On reviewing the progress of 
ornithology since the end of the last century, the 
first thing that will strike us is the fact that general 
works, though still undertaken, have become pro- 
portionately fewer, and such as exist are apt to 
consist of mere explanations of systematic methods 
that have already been more or less fully pro- 
pounded ; while special works, whether relating to 
the ornithic portion of the fauna of any particular 
country, or limited to certain groups of birds— 
works to which of late years the name of ‘‘ mono- 
graph ”’ has become wholly restricted—have become 
far more numerous’ But this seems to be the 
natural law in all sciences, and its cause is not far 
toseek. As the knowledge of any branch of study 
extends, it outgrows the opportunities and capabili- 
ties of most men to follow it as a whole; and since 
the true naturalist, by reason of the irresistible 
impulse which drives him to work, cannot be idle, 
he is compelled to confine his energies to narrower 
fields of investigation.” 


The Story of Forest and Stream. By JAMES Rop- 
way, F.R.A.S., F.L.S. 202 pp., and 27 illustra- 
tions. (London: George Newnes, Limited, 1897.) 
Price Is. 

This useful little work is one of the same series 
as ‘The Story of the Plants,’ by Grant Allen. 
The illustrations, which are very good, are chiefly 
of trees, plants and scenes of the tropics, as the 
author considers that the struggle and changing 
conditions of plant life are better portrayed in the 
luxurious growth of a warm climate than in Eng- 
land. Mr. Rodway has given a clear and interest- 
ing account of the work done by trees in large 
forests, carefully describing their use as well as 
beauty. 


The Photographer's Exposuve Book, By FREDERICK 
Wictiam MILts, F.R.M.S. (London: Dawbarn 
and Ward, Limited.) Price ts. 

This is a handy little note-book with valuable 
tables arranged in the orders of the months of the 
year, showing the length of time necessary for the 
exposure of the plate in various conditions of 
weather. There are also a number of pages for 
notes to be taken at the time of photographing ; 
these are ruled in sections, to facilitate regularity 
of procedure and comparison. 


Everybody's Medical Guide. By M.D. 122 pp. 
(London: Saxon and Co.) Price ts. 

This is a small guide to the lighter ailments of a 
household, giving the symptoms by which they 
may be easily recognised, and some simple remedies. 
It contains some useful suggestions for the main- 
tenance of health, extracts from the laws relating 
to infectious diseases, and the charges usually 
made by medical men, together with other pieces 
of information which are likely to be of great use 
to the heads of households. 


Elementary Botany. By W. Brann. 
and ii., 152 pp., 8vo, 240 illustrations. 
Bemrose and Sons, Limited.) Price ts. 

The first part of this useful little work treats of 
structural and systematic botany, and the second 
of vegetable anatomy and physiology. The work 
is arranged in courses of lessons suitable as the 
groundwork for lectures. Teachers taking an 
elementary class in botany would probably find it 
of use, 


Parts i. 
(London : 


Le 


= 


PRESERVATION OF MIcRoscopic SPECIMENS.— 
In the ‘‘International Journal of Microscopy and 
Natural Science” for January, 1897, an account 
is given of a method of preserving microscopic 
specimens of organs and tissues so that they retain 
the colour they had when fresh. M. Tores, after 
testing it for a year and a-half, finds it successful. 
He found that five to ten parts of a forty per cent. 
solution of formalin caused the organs after a time 
to assume a tint which differed very considerably 
from the natural colour, but if instead of water for 
diluting the commercial formalin solution, a solution 
of one part common salt, two parts of magnesium 
sulphate and two parts sodium sulphate in one 
hundred parts of water be used, the colour of 
the blood is well preserved. Objects preserved in 
such a solution are better adapted for microscopic 
examination, as the protoplasm of the cell is less 
altered and the nucleus stains more deeply.—F. 
Winstone, Ockeridge, Epping. 


AcaciA AS A PoPpuLAR MIcRrO-OxBJEcT.—The 
sprays of Acacia (racemosa?) sold just now in the 
London streets and elsewhere for button-holes and 
flower-vases, furnish quite a budget of interesting 
objects for the microscope. The small branches 
usually have several of the pretty whitish-green 
feathery leaves, and at the end a spray of bright 
yellow balls of many closely-set flowers. The 
whitish-green colour is caused by a layer of 
granules of wax which cover the surface of both 
stalks and leaves, and by a felty layer of small white 
hairs on the former. These should be examined 
opaque with a one-inch or half-inch objective, and 
light thrown on by bull’s-eye condenser. At the 
base of the leaf-stalk or petiole a swelling is 
observed, the pulvinus: its purpose is to raise 
and lower the whole compound leaf in accordance 
with suitable external conditions. It is more 
developed in the well-known ‘sensitive plant,” 
closely allied to this species. At the base of each 
pinnate leaflet there is a similar but smaller organ. 
To show the structure, cross-sections should be 
made and compared with others from another part 
of the stalk. On the upper surface of the petiole, 
between each pair of leaflets, is a small gland, 
almost globular, with a minute opening at the 
apex, often filled with a secretion, which probably 
gives rise to the pleasant balsam-like smell of the 
plant ; they are covered with small closely-set hairs, 
and form interesting and pretty opaque objects for 
alow power. The flower-heads will repay careful 
examination. Space forbids more than mention of 
the many bright yellow anthers, the crystalline 
filaments, and the compound pollen, formed of 
several—about sixteen—simple grains adhering to 
each other, an arrangement which, though occur- 
ring in other plants, is not very common. The 
hairy, almost bristly, bright-coloured calyx, and 
the delicately-tinted petals, together form a 
beautiful miniature regular flower, very different 
in appearance from our native papilionaceous 
examples of the natural order Leguminacez.—Jas 
Burton, 9, Agamemnon Road, West Hampstead, N.W. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP, 


ie 


goto 


LIMOSELLA AQUATICA IN CLARE.—Mr. Green- 
wood Pim says in the ‘Irish Naturalist,” that 
he found this interesting plant growing at Lisdoon- 
varna. It is only previously recorded as being 
found in Inchiquin Lough, co. Clare, and near 
Gort, co. Clare. Can any of your readers tell me 
whether there is any other record of its appearance 
in Ireland ?—F. Winstonz, Ockeridge, Epping. 


Dr. WILLIAM TRELEASE, the Director cf the 
Missouri Botanical Gardens, took for the subject 
‘of his presidential address this year, ‘“‘ Botanical 
Opportunity.” He considers that research is much 
promoted when some or all of the resulis have io 
be imparted in a class-room, and that better work 
is done by professors actively engaged in teaching 
than would be the case if they were attached to a 
purely research institution. 


The abnormal fungus-growth described in the 
January number of ScizncE-GossiP, p. 207, is, 
I imagine, not so very uncommon. One at least 
(of which I made a sketch) has come under my 
notice, and in my late. father’s note-books I find 
drawings of two others. In all three cases the 
parasitic growth was exactly similar to that copied 
from ‘‘ La Nature,” except that the pileus of the 
parasite was not attached to that of the other. 
I am sorry I am unable io state to what genus and 
species they belonged.—Geo. S. Saunders, 20, Dent's 
Road, Wandsworth Common, S.W.; January toth. 


AGE OF THE OrcHID=.—The age of the fibrous- 
rooted orchidz is well indicated by the leaves and 
roots. In young plants of Lisieva ovaia the leaves 
are often narrow-elliptic, and the root-fibres but 
few ; whereas in older plants the leaves are broadly 
ovate or sub-orbicular, and the rootstock densely 
fibrous; moreover, all orchidaceous plants are, 
when of several years’ duration, more robust, have 
larger leaves and more flowers ia the inflores- 
cences, and in the tuberculate-rooted species 
larger tubercules than tke younger plants. Listera 
and Ofhrys may be taken as types of the fibrous 
and tuberculate-rooted species respectively.—H. E. 
Guisei, 3, Cathcart Hill, Junction Road, N. 


ALKALOIDS IN ORCHIDACE.—In the ‘‘ Memoires” 
of the Royal Academy of Belgium, just issued, Dr. 
E. de Droog has generalised the researches that 
have been made as to the formation of organic 
bases by plants of the orchid family. The first to 
investigate the subject appears to have been M. de 
Wildemann, who, in 1892, observed the presence 
of an alkaloidal product in Dendrobium nobile, D. 
ainsworthit, and other members of the orchid 
family. Out of 104 species of orchids which 
were examined, only nine were considered as 
producing alkaloids—some in all parts, others 
only locally. Dr. de Droog appears to favour the 
view that the alkaloids are for defensive purposes. 
His paper is illustrated by a plate in which 
alkaloids to be found in the cells of Dendrobium 
nobile, Catasetum hookeri, C. macrocarpum and the 
root of Phalenopsis luddemanniana are shown. 


Mr. CHALMERS MITCHELL, at a recent meeting 
of the Zoological Society, exhibited a case of 
alleged telegony, Sir Everett Millais, who has 
had much experience in the breeding of dogs, 
believed it to be a case of reversion. He explained 
in like manner all cases of reputed telegony. Mr. 
Tegetmeier, who has also had much experience, 
agreed with this conclusion. 


BitTERNS In HorsHam.—On December 18th 
last, a fine specimen of the bittern (Botaurus 
siellavis) was, unfortunately, shot at Crawley, and 
has since been preserved by our local taxidermist. 
The last occurrence of this species in Horsham 
was in 1895, when, on January 2oth, a young 
fellow named Laker captured one in a marshy spot 
a little way out of the town. Laker, who was 
quite unaware of its rarity or its identity, knocked 
it down with a stick. The bird was purchased by 
the Rev. A. Low, who had it preserved. Iwo or 
three weeks previously to this, another specimen 
was shot at Slaugham, but unfortunately no 
particulars were kept. It was preserved by Mr. 
A. Richardson, Horsham.— Chas. J. Marten, 30, 
London Road, Horsham. 


ZooLoGicaL NOMENCLATURE.—Lord Walsing- 
ham and Mr. J. Hartley Durrant have compiled a set 
of ‘‘ Rules for Regulating Nomenclature with a view 
to secure a sirict application of Law of Priority in 
Entomological Work.” Messrs. Longmans, Green 
and Co. have published them in pamphlet form, price 
sixpence. These rules are called ‘‘ Merton Rules,” 
as they are in use at Merton Hall for all work 
done there. The authors would have all names 
according to the rules of Latin orthography, and 
would change those that are adopted from other 
languages. Names with similar sounds are rejected, 
also those which involve a false proposition. A 
name published before 1758, the date of the tenth 
edition of Linnzus’ ‘‘Systema Nature,’ is not 
accepted as valid, and may be used in another 
sense by a subsequent author. Rule 12 defines 
publication, which is taken to mean that the public 
can have access to the matter in a form other 
than MS. Astherule stands at present it would 
apparently invalidate all species published in 
private papers distributed without charge. Of 
permissible names for the same conception only 
the one first published is valid, ‘‘ provided that in 
its application its author has conformed to the 
requirements of publication and definition.” In 
Rule 16 it is stated that ‘‘ Definition must convey, 
either by description or by illustration in formation, 
that which may enable the author’s conception to 
be recognized.” Walid names are to be founded on 
types, with the exception that a new name may be 
substituted for one invalid as being homonymous 
either in its inception or in its adoption, and this 
may be done upon the evidence of published in- 
formation or illusiration, without the type having 
necessarily been seen by the author of the correc- 
tion, but the type shall be the type to which the 
name applies. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Wy 

PUTT Ti hy 
ii Ay; 
iif 


weil 


————— 


CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 


Position at Noon, 


Rises. Sets. R.A. 
Feb. hn. him, hm. Dec. 
Sun aver Odessa Rata Diemer Aes PAD aes 2122) -re 501200 Ss 
LO ee LE wee 5015 Ara PANEL pg Be ey 
2G) /-.mlOs58) eee 5283 Ore) coo) sh Sloe 
Rises. Souths. Sets.: 
WOU: © coy Orcs) BHC EL coor GiisI5} Jolyon doo awodyite} joRyen 
16) 4.5) 4520) primes X 0.52 .. 6.46a.m 
74a) men, GEL EGO rey Chil Elgonly oe acu hy 
Position at Noon. 
Souths. Semi R.A. 
h.m. Diameter. him. Dec. 
Mercury... 6... 10.36a.m. ... 4” 1 Feo MOL cee sioley is he (Sy, 
16 10.29 Bf ... 20,16 19° 36/ 
20 yas) LOLAIT cca BLO) . 21.6 17° 54! 
Venus ... 6)... 3.7 p.m. ...10! 9 5 OG) con WAP TOV INI 
MO Were 5 in OG coy of aie! 
FAR con © 13419) net 1.26 ... 11° 50/ 
Mars 6... 7.41 p.m (ae 4.50 25° 171 N 
LOM se weed: 4 7, con He OG} 

j 26... 6.49 2 Se) cos Cae Si 
Jupiter ...16 ... 0.45 a.m. ...20" 6 10.34 ... 10° 28/N 
Saturn ...16... 6.9 eee 15-55 18° 10! S 
Uranusi... (One 6.46 Seehey/ 15.46 19° 40! S 
Neptune... 16... 7.18 p.m td) 5.6 21” 18/N 

Moon’s PHASES. 
him, hm. 
New ... Feb. 1... 8.13 p.m. 1st Oy. ... Feb. 9... 7.25 p.m. 
SETINN. eee op SP Sosa iin Elyeeh BA (Osta pp) Bl dey Seay, 


Sun.—There is an annular eclipse on February 
Ist, quite invisible, however, in this country. It 
may be seen in the South Pacific Ocean, New 
Zealand, Central and a great part of South 
America. Spots seem to be now generally visible, 
though not of great extent or in great numbers. 
A large spot crossed the disc early in January. 


MErcourY, although reaching its greatest elonga- 
tion west (26° 23’) at 5 a.m. on the 16th, is ill- 
placed for observation, owing to its great southern 
declination. 


VENus daily gets into better position for the 
observer, reaching its greatest eastern elongation 
(46° 38’) at ro p.m. onthe 15th. It is interesting 
to watch the phases of this planet, the more particu- 
larly because the half-moon phase is frequently 
observed to differ by some (three to eight) days 
from the time of greatest elongation. 


Mars now presents but a tiny disc to the 
observer, and so is difficult to observe except with 
fairly large instruments. 


JUPITER, coming into opposition on February 
23rd, at 2 p.m., is now at its best for the observer. 
The belts may be seen with very small telescopic 
power, whilst almost any pocket telescope will 
show the satellites. Jupiter is a little east of the 
4th-magnitude p Leonis. 


SATURN rises at 2.36 a.m. on February rst, and 
about four minutes earlier each morning, and its 
apparent diameter slowly increases, whilst its ring 
system presents a magnificent appearance. It is 
best observed from 5 a.m. till sunrise, closely 
north-west of the beautiful 3rd-magnitude double 
star 8 Scorpii. 


255 


Uranus is not far from Saturn, being just east 
of the 4th-magnitude a Libre. 


INEPTUNE can be observed in the evening just 
north-east of the 5th-magnitude 106 Tauri, and 
shining as an 8th-magnitude star. 


VARIABLE STARS in good position during 

February are :— 

R.A. Maemitude. 

him. Dec. Max. Mum. Period. 
QEy dizse =i. “Aeergizt eSeisOuS 285 30 
ANG; Oy PEO AGUY 1S? ASo. MOS) eIDI5 
Rieonis: sis. 19-40) 129 ix) Nee 513) 10:0) | 3x2756idays-. 
R_,, Mimoris... 9.37 35° 6’N. 62 <11°0 369'4 days. 
R Urse Majoris...10.35 69° 27/N. 6:0 12'0 302°3 days. 


L]. 17576 Cancri... 8.48 17° 41) N. 6'5 85 
* Also variable in colour, yellow to red. 
Meteors should be looked for on February rst 
to 4th, 7th, roth, and 15th to 2oth. 


A NEw Comet.—On December 8th, Mr. Perrine, 
of the Lick Observatory, discovered yet another 
of these bodies, shining as an 8th-magnitude star, 
with a tail less than the diameter of the moon, just 
south-west of e Piscium. It is travelling eastward 
through the northern parts of Eridanus. As it 
passed its perihelion, according to Prof. Kreutz, 
on November 26th, its brightness was already 
waning at the time of its discovery. 


THE RECENT OpposiITION OF Mars.—Much has 
been said of late years respecting the so-called 
‘‘canals’’ on Mars, attention to which was first 
called by Prof. Schiaparelli. Notwithstanding the 
small angular diameter of the planet, very many of 
these have been seen during this past season. 
Herr Leo Brenner, at the Manora Observatory, 
had picked up no less than eighty-four of these 
objects previously seen by Prof. Schiaparelli, 
together with twenty-eight new ones, before 
December 12th, according to his paper in ‘‘ The 
Journal of the British Astronomical Society.” 


Sunspots.—At the meeting of the British Astro- 
nomical Association, held on December 30th, Mr. 
E. W. Maunder, of the Greenwich Observatory, 
read a paper on ‘‘ The Level of Sunspots,” a 
subject attracting much attention at the present 
time. As a consequence there was a considerable 
amount of discussion on the paper, participated in 
by the Misses Brown and A. M. Clerke, Dr. 
Johnston Stoney, Messrs. G. M. Seabroke, W. H. 
Wesley, Alex. J. S. Adams, Edwin Holmes and 
C. Thwaites. The subject is too lengthy to 
discuss in a brief note such as the present, and we 
would inform our readers that it will be found 
reported at length in the journal of the Asso- 
ciation. 


Dr. AxEL MO6LLER.—Dr. Méller, Professor of 
Astronomy and Director of the Observatory at 
Lund, in Sweden, has died, in his sixty-seventh 
year. He was elected an Associate of our Royal 
Astronomical Society in 1874, and received its 
gold medal in February, 1881. The motions of 
Faye’s periodic comet were carefully investigated 
by him. 


‘« \MATEUR OBSERVERS’ ALMANACK”’ FOR 1897. 
—This is a card, seventeen inches by twelve 
inches, compiled by Mr. Arthur Mee, F.R.A.S., of 
Hamilton Street, Cardiff, and contains a large 
amount of useful astronomical information at a 
trifling cost. Mr. Mee is President of the Astro- 
nomical Society of Wales, a young but healthy 
society, which seems to be making steady progress. 


254 


vs Sia 
Ye (| —— = = 3 
2 a RENE FMP an tae 
fae 1 ERE ae oe iz 


S A ing 
e/a WSS iat 


Lapy PrestwicH has given to the British 
Museum the collection of fossils made by her 
husband, the late Sir Joseph Prestwich. 


Dr. E. H. Du Bois Raymonp, Professor of 
Physiology in the University of Berlin, died on 
December 26th, at the age of seventy-eight. 

THE St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences have 
elected Lord Kelvin and Professor Simon Newcomb 
honorary members. Lord Rayleigh has been 
elected a corresponding member. 


ALFRED NOBEL, the well-known Swedish engineer 
and chemist, who died on December 6th at San 
Remo, has left his entire fortune, amounting to 
about £2,000,000, to the Stockholm University. 


MEASUREMENTS of the heights and velocities of 
clouds are being made at the Blue Hill Meteoro- 
logical Observatory, Mass., U.S.A., by Professor 
Rotch, as part of an international scheme for such 
work. 


Pror. J. E. DuzRDEN, Curator of the Museum 
of the Institute of Jamaica, has recently published 
an article which gives new data concerning the 
results of the introduction of the mongoose to that 
island. 

WE hear that for some time past two pairs of 
kingfishers have taken up their abode by the 
Ornamental waters of Battersea Park, in London, 
and seem as though they intend to become 
citizens of the great Metropolis. 


A CORRESPONDENT writes that in November last 
he observed some tomtits attacking his bees, tap- 
ping at the hive entrance, and when a bee came 
out seizing and carrying it off. As many as a 
dozen birds were observed at work at one time. 


SiR WILLIAM MacGrecor discovered a new 
bird-of-paradise during his recent journey across 
British New Guinea. Mr. Sclater will exhibit an 
example of this bird, which has lately arrived in 
England, at the British Ornithologists’ Club. 


A FISHING-SMACK, ‘‘ Early Blossom,” is stated to 
have brought into Lowestoft, on January 11th, a 
very large octopus. It was taken in the trawl-net 
near the Leman Sands, in the North Sea. It is 
said to have measured eleven feet in length, and 
weighed about five hundredweight. 


Mr. Horatio HALE, of Canada, the well-known 
anthropologist, died on December 29th. He was 
vice-president of the Anthropological Section of 
the American Association for the Advancement 
of Science in 1886, and has done much to advance 
the study of this important subject. 


A MAGNIFICENT display of aurora borealis was 
observed at Kirkwall on January 2nd. It com- 
menced shortly after twilight faded, and lasted for 
several hours. The ‘‘ waves” of light took two 
forms, one being as long streamers from the horizon 
to zenith; across these there rolled scroll-like 
waves from west to east. The whole effect was 
the finest that has been seen in our northern 
islands for many years. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


THE German Government have voted a supply 
of 50,000 marks to the Ministry of Public Instruc- 
tion, for investigations with the Rontgen rays. 
The object of the grant is to enable institutes and 
certain men of science to procure the necessary 
apparatus and to defray the expense of experi- 
ments. 


A CORRESPONDENT writes that a fine specimen of 
the golden eagle was shot on a farm near Driffield, 
in December last. It was only ‘‘ winged” at first, 
and a severe struggle took place. It was, at last, 
captured alive, but we regret to say the capturer 
killed it the following day. The wings measured 
5 feet 6 inches from tip to tip. 


WE learn from the ‘‘ Entomologists’ Record ” that 
at a recent meeting of the Committee of the Ento- 
mological Society of London for the Protection 
of Lepidoptera, it was resolved to invite the co- 
operation of local societies throughout the United 
Kingdom, and to ask them to furnish information 
as to proceedings likely to cause the extermination 
of local species of lepidoptera. Communications 
will be received by the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Chas. G. 
Barrett, 39, Linden Grove, Nunhead, S.E. 


M. M. G. Renavp states that the reason carrier- 
pigeons are rarely entirely white is because on 
their journeys those of a conspicuous colour are 
naturally selected by birds of prey, and thus the 
stock gradually disappears. To common pigeons 
this does not apply, as they rarely stray far from 
habitations, and are not so frequently struck by 
hawks. It is noticeable how much can be done by 
selection in the breeding of pigeons. For instance, 
French and Belgian breeders will train their birds 
for generations to fly from east to west. In 
England, where there is much fog, the breeders 
only keep birds that can fly through a misty 
atmosphere. 


WE have received a circular from the Geological 
Photographs Committee of the British Association, 
which was founded in 1889 for the purpose of 
arranging the ‘collection, preservation and syste- 
matic registration of photographs of geological 
interest in the United Kingdom.” The Committee 
urge geologists and photographers to assist in 
forming this collection. Since the formation of 
the Committee about 1,408 photographs have been 
received and deposited at the Museum of Practical 
Geology, 28, Jermyn Street, S.W. Information 
with regard to the best means of taking such 
photographs, and rules for the sending of them, 
may be obtained from the Secretary of the Com- 
mittee, Mr. W. W. Watts, 28, Jermyn Street. 


Tue Tenth Annual Report of the Liverpool 
Marine Biology Committee for 1896, by Prof. 
W. A. Herdman, D.Sc., F.R.S., contains a short 
account of the series of experiments in sea-fish 
hatching undertaken at the Port Erin Biological 
Station last Easter on behalf of the Lancashire 
Sea Fisheries Committee. Though conducted ona 
small scale, for the want of space and plant, they 
were very satisfactory, the eggs of the grey gurnard 
(Trigla gurnadus), the lemon-sole (Pleuronectes micro- 
cephalus) and the witch (Pleuronectes cynoglossus) being 
successfully fertilized and kept until they hatched 
out as young larve. It is proposed, with additional 
tanks and an improved circulation of water, to 
carry the experiments still further this year. Lists 
and particulars of various additions to the local 
marine fauna and flora discovered during dredging 
expeditions are also given. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


In reference to the meteor of November 2gth, I 
may say that I saw one about the time mentioned. 
It began in the constellation Taurus, travelled 
through Perseus and disappeared in the zenith. It 
was visible for about four seconds, leaving a 


yellowish-white tail for two seconds. I did not 
note its path at the time, so I am afraid that this 
account is not so accurate as desirable.—/J. A. Lloyd, 
Peveril Drive, The Park, Nottingham. 


A CHOKED KINGFISHER.—On December 23rd 
last I was shown a kingfisher which had met its 
death in rather a curious manner. Having caught 
a roach which proved a trifle too large for it, 
in attempting to swallow the fish the bird had 
apparently been choked. The bird, which was in 
the hands of Mr. A. Richardson for preservation, 
was in the flesh when I saw it, with the roach 
firmly fastened in its throat.—Chavles J. Marten, 
30, London Road, Horsham, Sussex. 


FossiIL FERN AT GIANT's CausEway.—In reply 
to Mr. Martin’s wish for further information on this 
peculiar fern remains, I am sorry to say that at the 
time I saw it I was interested in something else and 
quite forgot to make a fuller examination of it; but 
it struck me as being something like Polypodium 
vulgave. However, the impression was so well 
marked, and the water so often washes over the 
spot that I cannot think any wind-blown specimen 
would find a permanent resting-place there. It was 
the very fact that basalt does not contain fossil 
remains which made me take notice of this instance. 
I will endeavour to procure a photograph of the 
rock later in the year, and if I can obtain any 
other information about this I will let him know 
through these columns what it is. His note of the 
big mushroom found at Upper Norwood is most 
interesting, but we are both far behind the one 
recorded recently, weight 22 lbs. 6 ozs.—John H. 
Barbour, Bangor, Co. Down. 


PATERNAL AFFECTION IN WILD Birps.—Mr. 
F. W. Halfpenny has a paragraph with this heading 
on page 225 of your January number, and I fancy 
he will like to read the following extract from my 
note-book. I may say that Mr. Charman is a 
member of the Horsham Museum, and the 
‘“countryman”’ is a gardener at Nuthurst, Horsham. 
‘Horsham, April 29th, 1895.—I have come across 
a curious idea with regard to the rearing of young 
birds. The countryman mentioned in the last 
note showed Mr. Charman a nest of young song- 
thrushes. These, he said, he was going to rear 
for himself. In a short time he would put them in 
a cage, which he would hang up in atree. The 
parents, he declared, would bring food to the cage, 
which, however, he would not leave in the tree 
more than a week, for if he did the old birds 
would be sure to bring poison and kill the fledg- 
lings! Putting the infanticide out of the question, 
was the fellow deliberately inventing, or would the 
parents really tend their offspring under such 
conditions?” I never expected to meet with this 
poison idea again.—Charles J. Marten. 


255 


SEEDS oF Yucca.—Yucca plants at Nice not 
infrequently bear the large seed-pods in winter- 
time. In America the fertilization of the flowers 
depends on a special species of moth, Pronuba 
yuccasella. Does anyone know what insect takes 
its place in Southern Europe ?—John T. Carrington, 
Nice; January, 1897. 

BACTERIA IN CoaL.—In a note entitled ‘‘ Les 
Bactériacées de la Houille,”’ M. B. Renault an- 
nounces the discovery of bacteria in coal. The 
baccillus has been known to science for some 200 
years; we now learn that it has existed since the 
far past of the Carboniferous system. In examining 
thin sections of coal under the microscope, M. 
Renault saw characteristic chains and colonies of 
micrococci and baccilli He has named them 
provisionally Micrococcus cavbo and Baccillus carbo. 
The existence of bacteria in the Carboniferous 
epoch is not merely in itself an interesting fact, but 
it also raises an important question as regards the 
origin of coal. Did these organisms, we must 
enquire, simply exist with the vegetation and 
become carbonized with it, or are they the agents 
by which it was changed into coal? The question 
cannot yet be answered with certainty. On the 
one hand, M. Renault points out they are much 
more numerous in coal than in vegetation preserved 
by silica or carbonate of lime, and of fewer species ; 
they are not coloured like the coal, but appear as 
clear bands. This favours the latter view. On the 
other hand, the work of bacteria leads, when not 
arrested, to the complete disappearance of vegetable 
tissues. Thus if coal is due to bacterial action we 
must suppose this to have been arrested at different 
stages in the different sorts of coal—G. W. Bulman, 
Coalbridge-on-Tyne, December 26th, 1896. 


MarINnE NatTurat History.—As a diligent and 
appreciative reader of ScieNcE-Gossip I have 
frequently been dismayed by the almost total 
absence in recent years of communications in your 
columns with reference to the life-history of the 
flora and fauna of the sea. I cannot believe that 
this is due to any flagging of interest in these 
engrossing studies on the part of earnest naturalists 
who have the necessary facilities for their prosecu- 
tion. It would rather seem that those who have 
taken the trouble to master the necessary prelimin- 
aries find in these studies themselves and in 
watching the development of the many beautiful 
forms, either in their rock-pool homes or in 
captivity, sufficient occupation for leisure moments, 
without publishing descriptions of their experience 
for the edification of others. Those, however, who 
like myself, are debarred from more than a rare 
visit to the sea-side would gratefully welcome an 
occasional paragraph in your columns giving an 
account of some fresh ‘‘find,’’ or of some new 
locality where the more interesting forms of marine 
life may be found, or of other matters of instruction 
to those whose interest in marine natural history has 
to be sustained solely by daily watchings of the 
aquarium. In the event of my suggestion meeting 
with your approval, and of your consenting to offer 
the necessary facilities in forthcoming issues, I 
should be glad if you would insert this note amongst 
the ‘‘ Notes and Queries’’ in your columns. We 
should then, doubtless, ascertain whether other 
students of marine biology entertain views similar 
to the above, and whether or not any considerable 
number of them would feel disposed to assist in 
encouraging further interchange of experience in 
one of the most fascinating branches of natural 
science.—John Tatham, M.D., The Avenue, Surbiton; 
January 16th, 1897. 


ee 
FS TRANYICTI 


ie Ws 


ENTOMOLOGICAL. AND 
NaturRAL History SociETy.—January 14th, 1897. 


THE SoutTH LONDON 


Mr. R. South, F.E.S., President, in the chair. Mr. 
Routledge exhibited specimens of Acronycta menyan- 
thidis, from Carlisle, with a white thorax ; Xylophasia 
vyurea, from North Devon, light grey with fine lines ; 
Agrotis segetum, with silvery fore-wings and un- 
usually white hind-wings; Noctua c-nigrum, with 
the c reduced totwo spots; and a Tviphena pronuba, 
from Epping, with lunules on the hind-wings. Mr. 
R. Adkin, Tephrosia crepusculavia, bred spring brood 
March and April and summer brood June, some of 
the latter being equal in size to the former, 7. 
biundulavia, bred in May, all from the London 
district. Also, on behalf of Mr. W. F. de V. Kane, 
Dianthecia capsophila from a small island off the 
Kerry coast, with examples from Howth and Isle 
of Arran (Galway) for comparison; the Kerry 
specimens were unusually dark for the species and 
were bred. Mr. Hewett, of York, exhibited a varied 
series of Teniocampa munda, from York, including a 
fine mahogany-coloured form; a melanic var. of 
T. (cruda) pulverulenta; a series of vars. of Abraxas 
grossulariata, including a var. varleyata, bred from a 
wild larva; the various forms of Arctia lubricepeda, 
including a series of intermediate forms ; a pre- 
served hybrid larva from ova laid by a female 
T. munda, taken in cop. with a male T. stabilis 
at York, 1896; series of vars. of A. sylvata 
(ulmata), one being suffused and several unusually 
free from markings ; three females of Odonestis pota- 
tovia of the male colouration; and three Saturnia 
carpini, one having left hind-wing very pale, one 
very dark male, and a female having hind- 
wings approaching the male colouration. Mr. 
Barrett, on behalf of Mr. Kane, a specimen of 
Boarmia repandata var. destrigavia, Phthothedes captiun- 
cula and Aciptilia tetvadactylus, all from Ireland ; 
also a series of Eupithecia consignata, bred in and 
continuously since 1874, and only on one occasion, 
some ten years ago, had a wild strain been intro- 
duced. At first they gradually decreased in size, 
but after the introduction of a wild strain and the 
sleeving-out process, they increased in both size 
and depth of colour. Mr. Tutt, a long series 
of Acherontia atvopos, bred by Mr. Borroughs, of 
Rainham, showing considerable variation in the 
colour of the ‘‘skull,’’ and said that he did not 
consider the species adapted to exist in this 
country, they were forced. Mr. South, a series 
of Tephrosias from Japan. Mr. Bacot, series of the 
same from Epping, etc. Mr. McArthur, a living 
larva of Aplecta occulta and a bred series of Heliothis 
peltigerva. Mr. Young, of Rotherham, very long series 
of Spilosoma lubricepeda var. zatima and var. fasciata, 
and a var. very closely resembling var. deschangei of 
S. menthastri. It was noted that all British ento- 
mologists who bred this species obtained inter- 
mediate forms freely, while it was not so on the 
Continent. To illustrate his paper, Mr. Hewett 
exhibited very long series of both broods of T. 
crepusculavia and also series of T. biundularia. These 
were from some fifty or sixty different localities. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Most of the known forms were shown, as well as 
preserved larvae: on behalf of Mr. de V. Kane, 
the latter species from Irish localities, and both 
species, from Swansea, on behalf of Mr. Robertson. 
He then read a most exhaustive paper on these 
two species, and included in it were the observa- 
tions and experiments of more than fifty well-known 
entomologists who had been interested in this 
question. In the discussion that followed, Mr. 
South asked (1) did any character exist by which 
the species could be separated with absolute 
certainty? (2) Which was the commoner species ? 
To the former no answer was forthcoming, but to 
the latter members agreed the T. crepuscularia was 
very local, while T. biwndularia was more common. 
Mr. Barrett was of opinion that as a result of Mr. 
Hewett’s paper, all distinctions between the two 
were now completely swept away. Mr. Tutt 
thought that here were examples of recent evolution, 
in fact we had species in the making, as in the case 
of some of the Zygenas. He insisted that the 
naming of the two forms, and the consideration of 
them as distinct, although very closely allied, 
was a matter of convenience, necessitated in our 
comparisons with Continental and Asiatic repre- 
sentatives. Messrs. Carpenter, Bacot and others 
continued the discussion.—Hy. J. Turner, Hon. 
Report. Sec. 


Nortu Lonpon Naturat History Society.— 
December i1gth, 1896. Mr. L. B. Prout, Vice- 
President, in the chair. Messrs. J. E. Gardner 
and Ernest A. Nash were elected members of the 
society. Exhibits: Mr. Bishop, Cheimatobia boreata, 
Oporabia dilutata and Hybernia aurantiaria, taken 
on the fence of Claremont Park, near Esher. Mr. 
L. J. Tremayne, ferns from North Wales and the 
New Forest. Messrs. Harvey and Casserley were 
appointed auditors for the year. Mr. Casserley 
read a paper on ‘‘ Centipedes.” He said the class 
Myriapodais divided into three orders: Chilognatha, 
comprising all the millipedes; Pauropoda and 
Chilopoda, or centipedes proper. He proceeded to 
give a general description of the structure of 
centipedes, and, in describing their habits, said 
that the females of Geophilus subterraneus remain 
with their young until the latter are in a fairly 
advanced stage of development, which is very 
unusual in articulate animals. Centipedes do not 
go through any larval stage, but the young when 
first hatched from the egg are very similar to the 
perfect animal, only they are broader in proportion 
to their length, and they have not so many segments 
to the body as the mature form. Each successive 
cast of skin up to a certain limit shows additional 
segmentation. Lithobius forficatus is the species 
most commonly found in this country, but the 
Scolopendre are also found plentifully, and as they 
are very Closely allied, it is not always easy to pick 
out Lithobius. The genus Geophilus also con- 
tains a good many species, a very widely-known 
one being G. longicornis, frequently found at the 
roots of turnips, and destroyed by farmers under 
the impression that it is damaging their crops, 
which is a great mistake, as the centipede does not 
care for turnips, but is really doing a great deal of 
good by destroying the terrible turnip-flea and 
other insects which get their living out of turnips. 
Mr. Casserley proceeded to compare the centipedes 
with the woodlice and the more highly specialized 
worms. He considered they could be put down as 
the lowest form of arthropod animals, and failed to 
understand why, according to the modern classi- 
fication, they are put in such very close relation to 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


the Insecta, which are obviously the most highly 
specialized of all the Arthropoda. There could be 
only one reason for placing them in that position, 
and that was that their method of aerating the 
blood is very similar to that of the Insecta, and 
certainly different from that of the lower forms. 
Messrs. C. Nicholson, Harvey, Wheeler, Miss 
Nicholson, and Messrs. Bacot, R. W. Robbins, 
L. J. Tremayne, Dadd and Simes took part in the 
discussion which followed. The proceedings 
terminated with the usual vote of 
Lawrence J. Tremayne, Hon. Sec. 


RoyaL METEOROLOGICAL SociETy,—The annual 
general meeting of this Society was held on 
Wednesday, the 2oth inst., at the Institution of 
Civil Engineers, Great George Street, West- 
minster, Mr. E. Mawley, F.R.H.S., President, in 
the chair. The Secretary read the report of the 
Council, which showed that the Society had made 
steady progress during the past year, there being 
an increase of seventeen in the number of Fellows. 
The President then delivered an address on ‘‘ Shade 
Temperatures,” in which he stated that of all 
meteorological observations - there were none 
approaching in importance those made of the 
temperature of the air, generally known as “ shade 
temperature.”’ Indeed, the first question invariably 
asked in regard to almost any climate was as to 
its temperature. Mr. Mawley traced the history 
of the different methods of exposing thermometers 
since the time that regular observations of the 
weather had been made in this country. For 
many years open screens were most favoured by 
meteorologists, that devised by Mr. J. Glaisher, 
F.R.S., and the late Astronomer-Royal (Sir G. B. 
Airey) being the pattern principally used. In 
1864 Mr. T. Stevenson, C.E., invented an ad- 
mirable form of closed screen with louvred sides, 
which was considered preferable to the open type 
of screen, and has now almost entirely superseded 
the Glaisher stand. In 1883 the Stevenson screen 
was considerably improved by a Committee of the 
Royal Meteorological Society. Mr. Mawley then 
described his own experiments at Croydon and 
Berkhamsted, as regards this improved screen, 
known as the Royal Meteorological Society’s 
pattern. He showed that the only two defects 
which had been attributed to this form of thermo- 
meter exposure were virtually non-existent, and 
therefore advised its general adoption both in this 
country and on the Continent. Mr. Mawley had 
recently made observations in the Stevenson 
screen, and also in the screens used in France and 
Germany, and the conclusion he had come to was 
that the results obtained in the Stevenson screen 
were not only the nearest to the true air tempera- 
tures, but also more likely to be strictly comparable 
with temperatures taken in a similar screen but 
with different surroundings elsewhere.—JVilliam 
Marriott, Assistant Sec. 


HvuLt SCIENTIFIC AND FIELD NATURALISTS’ 
Cius.—The first meeting this year was held in the 
Friendly Societies’ Hall, Albion Street, Hull, on 
Wednesday evening, January 6th. The President, 
Dr. J. Hollingworth, M.R.C.S., occupied the chair. 
There was a very good attendance of members. 
Mr. J. W. Boult exhibited the preserved larva and 
pupa and also some living specimens of the swallow- 
tail butterfly (Uvopteryx sambucavia), which he had 
reared. Mr. T. Sheppard handed round some huge 
bones which had recently been dug up in the 
vicinity of Goole and sent over by Mr. Thos. 


thanks. -—.. 


257 


Bunker, of that place. On comparing these with 
the large whale’'s skeleton in the Hull Museum, 
they proved to be part of the bones belonging to 
the fin of a young whale, no doubt a relic of the 
old whaling days. There are several grooves and 
impressions on them, which have evidently been 
made bya plough-share passing over. It was pointed 
out that in the neighbourhood of the Humber, and 
especially around Hull, the lower jaw-bones of the 
whale are frequently used as gate-posts, or as orna- 
mentsin gardens, etc. Oddones are to beseen utilized 
in this way at some villages which are situated 
a good distance from the Humber. Mr. A. H. 
White brought a series of platinotype photographs 
of local antiquarian interest. These were most 
beautifully executed. A few lantern-slides, repre- 
senting the homes and habits of sea-gulls at 
Twigmoor gullery and Scarborough respectively, 
were thrown on the screen by the President and 
Mr. Slade. Several books and pamphlets were 
added to the library, which formerly belonged to 
the Hull Field Naturalists’ Club. These included 
several of the first numbers of the ‘‘ Naturalist ”’ 
(1864), and other interesting items. Mr. J. A. 
Ridgway, F.R.A.S., of Beverley, and Mr. A. 
Dobson, of Hull, were elected members of the 
society. The rest of the evening was occupied by 
a lecture on ‘‘ Astronomical Measurements,” by the 
Rev. H. P. Slade, F.R.A.S. This was of a very 
interesting character, and was illustrated by a 
number of lantern-slides. The lantern used was 
one of the lecturer’s own design, and had many 
advantages over ordinary lanterns. The new 
illuminant, acetylene, was also used, with success. 
On the proposition of Mr. Ridgway, F.R.A.S., 
seconded by Mr. A. H. White, a hearty vote of 
thanks was accorded to Mr. Slade for his valuable 
lecture. Mr. Ridgway, who had not met the 
lecturer before, but had made use of his ‘‘ micro- 
meter,’’ complimented him on the lucid manner in 
which he had expressed himself, and Mr. White, 
who had made theacquaintance of Mr. Slade through 
the pages of the ‘‘ English Mechanic,” gave some 
humorous remarks respecting his first attempts at 
studying astronomy. Several other gentlemen 
also spoke, and the proceedings were brought to 
a close by some experiments with acetylene gas.— 
T. Sheppard, Hon. Sec., 78, Sherburn Street, Hull. 


THE SCARBOROUGH FIELD NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY, 
January 14th, 1897. The President, Mr. D. W. 
Bevan, in the chair. Three new members were 
proposed and elected. The minutes of the annual 
meeting were read and confirmed. Christmas 
festivities having interrupted work since last 
meeting, there were few records. A burbot fish, 
fifteen inches long,' was reported as having been 
taken by a trawler in deep water. This is rather 
unusual, as it is more often taken in fresh water. 
A fine paper nautilus was exhibited by Mr. W. J 
Clarke; also a pair of ruffs in breeding plumage. 
Two single valves of the large mollusc Pinas were 
shown, the latter one measuring over twenty-four 
inches in length. These were from abroad. Mr. 
J. A. Hargreaves showed a very fine specimen of 
Gryphea incurva, commonly known as ‘‘ the miller’s 
thumb,”’ which may be found on the shore. Mr. 
W. Gyngell exhibited a few varieties in shells. 
Mr. W. Bevan showed a chart of the move- 
ments of Mars since October 20th, 1896, which 
indicated quite a variation from its usual course. 
The presidential address followed these reports, 
and the new President, Mr. D. W. Bevan, gavea 
very pleasant account of ‘‘The naturalist at his 


258 


best,” opening with the following quotation from 
“‘The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table’’: ‘‘ One- 
storey intellects, two-storey intellects, three-storey 
intellects, with skylights. All fact-collectors who 
have no aim beyond their facts are one-storey men. 
Two-storey men compare, reason, generalize, using 
the labours of the fact-collectors as well as their 
own. Three-storey men idealize, imagine, predict. 
Their best illumination comes from above through 
the skylight.’”” He then went on to show how, in 
the society, there were one-storey men who 
collected facts, specimens, etc., and made records 
of them; two-storey men who, as well as collect- 
ing, studied the structure, habits, and peculiarities 
of species; and three-storey men who, beyond the 
scientific and practical, studied the esthetic, 
poetic, and ideal side of nature. Continuing, the 
President said no society was at its best until all 
the members were hard at work, and it should 
be the duty of every member to assist the 
recorders if they found specimens, and in all 
cases they should make absolutely reliable entries, 
as they were often used by scientists of repute, the 
late Charles Darwin himself referring to the 
subject. In studying the structure and habits of 
animals, good solid text-books were the best. There 
were books which, although very interesting reading, 
imparted no great amount of practical knowledge. 
While keeping collecting well to the front they 
should take greater interest in the structure or 
habits of the animals or insects they studied. 


NOTICES OF SOCIETIES. 


THe SoutH LonpoNn ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History Society. 
Feb. 11.—‘‘ Photo-micrographs of Entomological Subjects,” 
with the lantern, by F. Clark. A 
25.—‘‘Notes of Observations during my holidays at 
Freshwater and in Scotland.” By Hy. Tunaley, 
F.E.S. 


” 


Mar. 11.—Discussion on “Insect Protection.” Opened by 
C. G. Barrett, F.E.S. 
»,  25.—Lantern Lecture by Fred. Enock, F.L.S., F.E.S. 
Apr. 8.—‘‘On the Nature of Genera.” By J. W. Tutt, F.E.S. 


,,  22.—‘* Paper by E. Step, F.L.S. 
Papers have also been promised by F. Merrifield, F.E.S., 
G. R. Grote and others.—Hy. J. Turner, Hon. Report Sec. 


NortH Lonpon Naturat History SociEty.— The following 
are amongst the fixtures for next session: 

Feb. 11.—Discussion on ‘‘Overcrowding and its Remedies.” 
Opened by L. J. Tremayne. 

Mar. 27.—Visit to the Epping Forest Museum. 

Apr. 8.—Discussion: * The Filices or Ferns.” 
R. W. Robbins. 

May 13.—‘‘ My trip to Highcliffe, and what I found in the 

Barton Beds.” J. Burman Rosevear, M.C,S. 
15.—Whole-day Excursion to Brentwood. 
»  27.—‘‘ Dorsetshire Notes.” J. Wheeler, M.C.P. 

June 4-7.—Excursion to the New Forest. 

10.—Debate: ‘‘ Is Vivisection Justifiable ?” 

>, 19.—Half-day Excursion to the Lea Valley. 

There will also be a special-family discussion entitled, 

“The Liparidz,” to be opened by A. Bacot on some date 

not yet fixed.—Lawrence J. Tremayne, Hon. Secretary. 


LAMBETH FIELD CLUB AND SCIENTIFIC SociETy.—We have 
received the following list of fixtures for the forthcoming 
session : 

Feb. 1.—‘‘The Uses of Beauty in Nature.” Miss C. A. 

Martineau. 
15.—Discussion on ‘“ Electricity.’ 
1.—‘To Norway in Quest of a Shadow.” 
Crommelin, F.R.A S. 

13.—Visit to Natural History Museum. 

» __ 15.—Photographic Demonstration. H.W. Cosson. 
April 5.—‘‘ Simple Types of Plant Life.” E. J. Davies. 
10.—Visit to Zoological Gardens. 

I9.—Easter Monday.—Outing to Effingham. 

3.—‘Some of our Smaller Song-birds.”’”’ E. W. 
Harvey-Piper. 
8.—Outing to Sanderstead (with Selborne Scciety). 

»,  22.—Visit to Kew Gardens. 

June 7.—Whit-Monday.—Outing to Cheshunt. 

»  Ig.—Outing to Caterham. 

H. Wilson, Hon. Sec., 
14, Melbourne Square, Brixton Road. 


Opened by 


” 


” 


Opener, W. Rivers. 
A.C. D. 


” 


” 


May 


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OFFERED, thirty-five species Maltese land shells, Miocene, 
Kimeridgian and Liassic fossils, aJl named. Wanted, 
microscopical literature, condenser and lamp.—T. Cooke, 
Thorndale, Lincoln. 

OFFERED, Nice nests, with data, of dipper, stonechat, 
sedge-warbler, grasshopper-warbler, chiff-chaff, goldcrest, 
creeper, coal-tit, grey wagtail, rock-pipit, corn-bunting, gold- 
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ASTRONOMICAL telescope, 2+ object-glass, brass table- 
stand, two aStro, two terrestrial eye-pieces, sun-cap, in 
mahogany case; desiderata, microscope or accessories.—A. 
Henley, 303, Strand. 

Many foreign shells, chiefly marine, in exchange for other 
foreign shells not in collection.—W. Turner, Liberton, Edin- 
burgh. ; 

SEVERAL good pigeons for exchange, comprising Blue 
Chequers and Antwerps; desiderata, scientific instruments, 
books, minerals, birds, eggs, shells, or offers.—Ashley Rose- 
vear, 113, New King’s Road, Fulham, S.W. ; 

MacuHaon, Crataegi, Edusa, Aglaia, Cinxia, Athalia, Iris, 
c-album, Cardui, T. quercus, Rubi, Betulz, Lineola, 
Paniscus, etc., and many moths wanted; number of dupli- 
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Six vols ‘English Flora” (Smith). Joyce’s ‘ Scientific 
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England,” Robinson’s ‘Hardy Flowers,’ etc.:» offers. 
Wanted, books on mosses, dissecting and other micro- 
scopes, or will exchange mosses.— Peter Yates, Astley, 
Manchester. 

Brcx’s “ Popular,” ‘‘ Star,” and Ross No. 3, latest pattern, 
with all accessories offered; wanted, Beck’s National 
Binocular 1896 pattern.—Sir C. Purcell Taylor, 2, Powis 
Place, W.C. 

OFFERED, Prof. D. McAlpine’s Zoological Atlas (Vertebrata 
and Invertebrata), 40 coloured plates and nearly 300 figures, 
published 18s.; desiderata, lantern or microscope slides, 
Cambrian, Glacial, good Carboniferous, Cretaceous, or 
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Heath. 

OFFERED, varieties of Helix nemoralis and H. hortensis, 
and mounted specimens of Manitoba plants, in exchange for 
microscopic slides.—F. Winstone, Ockeridge, Epping. 

ANDRE BONNET, 55, Boulevard St. Michel, Paris, offre 
(x) Coquilles eocénes du Bassin de Paris; (2) Coquilles 
miocénes de Touraine; (3) Catalogue raisonné and iilustré 
des Coquilles oligocénes du Bassin de Paris, par M. 
Cossmann, en échange de Coquilles tertiaires et récentes. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


259 


NANSEN’S JOURNEY TO THE POLE. 


as: results to science in general of Dr. Nansen’s 

journey to the ‘'Farthest North”’ cannot 
at present be stated. The three years’ collection 
of materials and data to be dealt with on his 
return by naturalists and other scientific experts 
have yet to be examined, and it may be a 
year or two before the full results are known. 
But apart from this, the account of the Expedition, 
so admirably told by Dr. Nansen in his book just 
published, (1) leads one to expect some very valuable 
additions to scientific knowledge, quite apart from 


He was at one time Curator of the Bergen Museum, 
during which time he published a number of 
pamphlets on scientific subjects. Later, being 
still a young man, he made his famous journey 
across Greenland. 

The excitement of exploration made a strong 
appeal to the romantic and enterprising character 
of Nansen, and ere long he meditated his now 
world-famed journey to the North; which, it 
should be noted, was not undertaken through any 
empty or ill-considered ambition, but after much 


THE “FRAM’’ IMPRISONED IN THE ICE. 
(Copyright by Constable & Co.) 


the great geographical discovery which the world 
owes to this intrepid explorer. 

Dr. Nansen is pre-eminently a man of science. 
Nature-study and sport had a great fascination for 
him in very early life. Distinguishing himself by 
his success as a bear- and seal-hunter, he did also, 
in his young days, much valuable scientific work, 
particularly in the field of biology. He would 
suffer considerable self-sacrifice to obtain oppor- 
tunities for the prosecution of scientific research. 


(1) Fridtjof Nansen’s ‘‘ Farthest North.” Constable and Co. 


Marcu, 1897.—No. 34, Vol. 3. 


study, and with the object of proving the correct- 
ness or otherwise of his theory as to the existence 
of a polar current, which he conjectured ran from 
the New Siberian Islands to the east coast of 
Greenland. 

In his book Nansen makes no attempt what- 
ever to state the advantages likely to accrue 
to science as a result of the many observations 
made by him. His aim has been to record 
experiences, not results—to give a narrative 
account of the Expedition such as would be of 


260 


general interest. The importance of the oceano- 
graphic, meteorological, astronomical and mag- 
netic observations made remain yet to be stated. 
Nor is the world’s store of knowledge increased 
by any statement by Nansen of the probable 


age and structure of the palzocrystic ice, 


pe nn 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


fact that biological materials are not so plentiful 
nor so varied in the extreme latitudes traversed by 
him. But notwithstanding this, the keenness of 
Nansen’s scientific spirit has resulted, as might 
have been expected, in the collection of a wealth of 
materials for investigation. 


MovaBLe METEOROLOGICAL STATION. 
(Copyright by Constable & Co.) 


majestic masses of which he encountered in every 
direction. 

Botany, zoology and some other departments of 
science do not appear to have benefited as fully 
as by some other expeditions whose pioneers have 
not been so well favoured as Nansen. This is not 
the fault of Nansen, however, but is due to the 


In zoology the most important facts noted are 
the discovery of foxes and narwhals as far as the 
85th parallel, and the discovery, in Prince Rudolf 
Land, of the nesting-place of the rare Ross’s gull 
(Radostethia rosea), specimens of the species of which 
were brought home. 

The expedition took photographs of every scene 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 261 


or object of interest met with—landscapes, sea- 
scapes, animals, birds, and natural phenomena 
generally. They closely applied themselves to 
the work of dredging and studying the character 
and distribution of animal and plant life. Star- 
fish, algee, and even bacteria, were taken from the 
pools in the drifting ice. The long Arctic summer 
day was busily spent in examining, under the 
microscope, the objects almost invariably found 
existing in the freshwater pools of the ice-floes. 

But, mainly, Nansen's account of his expedition 
concerns itself with upsetting pre-existing theories 
as to the physical character of the Pole. Nansen 
has made a great geographical discovery. Arctic 
explorers before him believed in the existence 
of considerable areas of land dotted about in a 
shallow circum-polar basin. Nansen himself was 
amongst those who believed this. No one antici- 
pated the discovery of a deep oceanic sea in the 
Polar area. Nansen states that the Pole itself 
probably lies in this deep ocean bed, although its 
extent is not at present known; but it extends a 
long way north of Franz-Josef Land to the New 
Siberian Islands. Soundings were taken of depths 
exceeding 2,000 fathoms. Nansen believes that 
for a considerable distance to the north of the 
course followed by the Fram there is a deep-sea 
area without any islands to affect the movements of 
the ice. The temperature, as also the salinity at 
different depths of the Polar Sea, leaves little doubt 
in Nansen’s mind that the Polar oceanic depression 
is continuous with the deep Atlantic basin. 

The success of Nansen’s expedition was due not 
only to the hardiness of the Norsemen who 
made up the party, but first and foremost to the 
scientific training of Nansen’s own life, and his 
power to anticipate every difficulty experienced by 
previous Arctic explorers. The minutest care was 
taken, and every possible necessity provided for, 
before the expedition started. Nansen set out with 
the idea, which was Professor Mohn’s before him, 
that a continuous current ran from the New Siberian 
Islands north-westerly across the Polar area to the 
coast of Greenland, and he laid himself out to 
establish the proof of it, which he has done. 

The Fram left Christiania on Midsummer Day, 
1893. It made its way to the north of the White 
Sea and the coast of Nova Zembla, then south to 
the Kara Sea. Finding a fair passage, it pushed 
its way through the land-water (discovering a new 
island, which was named Sverdrup’s Island, by the 
way) and soon rounded Chelyuskin, the most 
northerly point of the old world, and thence to a 
region of walruses, available as food. Towards the 
end of September the ship got imprisoned in the 
ice at about 783° N. latitude, and in the same 
longitude as the most westerly of the New Siberian 
Islands ; and here preparations were made for the 
arctic winter night. For the next eighteen months 


EE 


the Fram began to drift, sometimes southwards, then 
south-easterly, and it seemed as though Nansen 
was to be disappointed in the attainment of his 
object. The winter passed away, summer came and 
went, and the Expedition found themselves still 
drifting. The Fram behaved excellently—well built 
as she was —under the terrible pressure of the ice. 

Nansen, after careful deliberation and discussion 
with his companions, resolved to leave the Fram, 
and make his way northwards over the ice, 
taking with him dogs, boats and sleighs. Lieut. 
Johansen was his solecompanion. Nansen himself 
made, from bamboo and sail-cloth, the two kayaks 
which played so important a part in the lives of 
the two explorers after quitting the ship. Pushing 
their way northward they found themselves, in a 
few weeks, at a geographical point which had never 
previously been reached, namely, 86° 13°6’ N. 
latitude. Here they were stopped all further 
progress, as the ice was moving southerly almost 
as fast as their efforts togo further north. Nansen 
then directed his course towards Franz-Josef Land, 
which was distant four hundred and fifty miles 
from this point. 

The thrilling experiences of the two explorers as 
set out by Dr. Nansen himself must be read to be 
appreciated. Sleighing over the ice, at other times 
making their way in kayaks over the water-lanes, 
mingled with adventures with bears and walruses, 
‘the life of these two men had aspects at once 
romantic and pathetic. At Franz-Josef Land 
Nansen and his companion met the Jackson- 
Harmsworth Expedition. Meanwhile, under 
Captain Sverdrup, the Fvam continued to drift as 
far north as Spitzbergen, and soon found Nansen 
standing on her deck in Tromsé Harbour. 


THE expedition to Central Africa, supported by 
the Royal Society, with the object of investigating 
the fresh-water fauna of Lake Tanganyika, in 
relation to its supposed marine origin, and of 
establishing the connection of that lake with the 
other great African lakes, which was undertaken 
by Mr. J. E. S. Moore, has resulted in the following 
discoveries. Mr. Moore's statement is telegraphed 
by Reuter: ‘I found the fauna of Tanganyika to 
be unique—unlike anything else anywhere—and as 
limited as peculiar. The jelly-fish and shrimps 
were certainly of a marine type, while the geology 
of the district precluded the possibility of any 
connection with the sea in recent times. The 
water, which Livingstone found to be brackish, is 
now quite drinkable. All this seems to prove that 
the Tanganyika part of the great Rift Valley 
running through this part of Africa at one time 
had access to the sea, while it is perfectly clear 
that Lake Nyassa—some 246 miles to the south- 
east—apparently never had any marine connection. 
It is also a matter of interest that the fauna of 
Tanganyika is not only marine, but of a very 
peculiar and primitive type, and it is quite reason- 
able to suppose that the characteristics of the 
fauna are connected with the remote geological 
connection of the lake with the sea.” 


> 


262 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


FOREIGN VARIETIES OF BRITISH LAND AND 


FRESHWATER 


MOLLUSCA. 


By T. D. A. CocKERELL. 


ee it seems to me very desirable that the 

variations of British mollusca should be 
named and described, it has sometimes occurred 
that those who have undertaken this work have 
not been aware of what has been done abroad, and 
so have fallen into errors. Unfortunately, no 
complete list of the named varieties and mutations 
of our mollusca exists, nor could one be prepared 
without a great deal of research in some such 
library as that of the British Museum. The 
writer, however, has a MS. list which is approxi- 
mately complete up to the middle of 1887, and 
this, with such additions as have come to his 
notice, is herewith presented as a provisional list 
of the foreign varieties of British land and fresh- 
water mollusca. The slugs are omitted, because a 
complete list of them will be found in the check 
list published in 1893. 

It should be clearly understood that the names 
are cited from the literature, without any attempt, 
in the great majority of cases, at critical revision, 
Only those who have the specimens before them 
can undertake to determine which are synonyms 
and which are wrongly assigned to the species 
under which they appear. As regards the latter, it 
is certain that for every supposed variety which 
can be shown hereafter to be a distinct species 
many so-called species will be found to possess only 
varietal rank. Descriptive notes are given on 
some of those most likely to be found in England. 


(zt) Hyarinia Lucipa, Drap. 

septentrionalis, Bgt. 

farinesiana, Bgt. 

navarrica, Bgt. 

calabrica, Paul. 

blaunervi, Shuttl.; France. A little larger, 
more depressed ; umbilicus larger. 

syrviaca, Kobelt. 

convextuscula, Mog.; France. A little larger, 
more convex; umbilicus a little larger. 

obscurata, Moq.; France. Larger, more de- 
pressed, with a very obscure keel; umbili- 
cus larger. 

requienit, Moq.; France. Sometimes larger, 
very depressed, with a marked keel ; umbili- 
cus a little larger. 

planulata, Stabile. 


(2) H. cerraria, Miill. 
blondiana, Bet. 
piutonica, Bet. 
sieversi, Bttgr.; Caucasus. 
subaperta, Bttgr.; Caucasus. 
chelia, Bgi. 
sancta, Bgt.; Syria. 
sicula, Kob.; Sicily. 
ville, Mort. 


silvatica, Morch. =élevata, Broeck.; Denmark, 
Sweden, Belgium. Practically identical 
with our compacta, Jett. 

obscura, Loc.; France. Rather darker than 
type, but more transparent; 9 mm. diam. 

subalbida, Loc.; France. Whitish below, 
little transparent, generally large. 

major, Baud. 

maculosa, Pascal; France. Smaller, greenish, 
compressed, with irregular whitish spots 
all over the shell. 

hypozona, Pascal; France. With a not very 
distinct brown band below. 

alliaria ‘* Millet,’’ Hazay. 

syluestvis, Gass. 

maculata, Loc.; France. 
yellowish flecks. 

minor, Loc.; France. 
mm. 

plana, Esmark. 

albina, West. Bluish-white, almost opaque; 
practically the same as our white variety. 

precozx, West.; Italy. 

chersa, Bgt.; France, Switzerland, Germany. 


Horn colour, with 


Diam. less than 10 


(3) H. HELVeETIcaA, Blum. 
The following varieties are assigned to H. 

glabra ; some may belong to our species: 

aguitanica, Chp. 

anceps, West. 

barvaudi, Mog.; S. France, Switzerland, etc. 
Larger, slightly depressed, more strongly 
coloured. 

hungarica, West.; Hungary. 

striaria, West.; Galicia, etc. 


(4) H. acviaria, Mill. 

? cantabrica, West. 

anceps, West.; Sweden. 

shepmanni, West.; Holland. 

suballiaria, Bgt.; Algeria. 

(5) H. nitipura, Drap. 

dutaillyana, Mab.; France, Switzerland. 

hucca, Jan. 

vessmannt, West. 

sinistrorsa. Shell sinistral —See Zool. Record 
for 1879. 

carthusiana, Loc. Greenish-white, crystalline, 

opaca, Loc.; France. 93 mm. diam., 
completely opaque, milk - white, shiny, 
depressed, with deep sutures. 

detvita, DD. and M.; France. Small, excoriated 
in places, showing a nacreous tint. 

alpicola, D. and M.; France. Smaller, more 
strongly striated: mouth more rounded. 

minor, Stabile. Westerlund gives 6 to 7 by 
3mm. 

albina, Riem.=margaritacea, A. Schm.- This 
is our hzlmit. 

beryllus, West. 

amiate, Paul., MS., West.; Italy. Lat. 8-9; 
alt. 4 mm. . 

major, West.; France, etc. 15 by 7 mm. 

olearis, West.; Sweden, Denmark. 

lundensis, West.: Sweden. 

subnitens, Bgt.; France, Spain. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


(6) H. rapiatuLa, Alder. (hammonis, Strom.) 
jaccetanica, Bgt. Said by Westerlund to 
belong to H. petronella; subnitidosa, Mouss., 
is the same. 
virescens, Esm. 


(7) H. pura, Alder. 

The names vividula (Manke) Kobelt and 
lenticulavis, Held., appear to belong to our 
well-known forms. Paulucci has called a 
form Jenticula. 


(8) H. nitipa, Mill. 
sinistvovsa. Shell sinistral; see Zool. Record 
for 1879. 
borealis, Cless; N. Sweden. 
pavisiaca, Mab.; France, Sweden. 
machot, Serv. ; Spain. 


(9) H. Excavata, Bean. 
No varieties recorded from abroad. Wester- 
lund cites only Schleswig as a locality for 
the species out of Britain. 


(10) H. crysTacxina, Mill. 
subterranea, Bgt; France, Germany, Sweden. 
humulicola, Mab. ; France. 
ovientalis, Kim. Practically the same as our 
var. complanata. 
hydatina, Rossm. Larger; aperture a little 
more oblique. 


EXTINCTION 


pe all the numerous organic creations in the 
earth are continually changing, perhaps 
nothing shows this change better than plants. 
Nearly every one knows that in an individual 
plant the tissues and growth are ever changing; 
but plants also seem to be moving from place to 
place, or to locally go out of existence altogether. 

Under these circumstances no one who has 
made inquiries in this subject will have failed to 
note how exotic plants gradually establish them- 
selves in a country, while some become more and 
more scarce every year till they finally disappear. 
The foreigners have generally a hard fight before 
they are classed by botanists as natives; while the 
extinct plants still figure in the printed floras long 
after their total disappearance from the country or 
county. The printed floras do not therefore 
always contain trustworthy localities; and further, 
they tend to make rare plants disappear more 
quickly than would be the case if their haunts 
were kept a little more obscure from the general 
public. 

Whether rare plants disappear or not generally 
depends on their attractiveness and beauty, also 
on their marketable value, when they are eagerly 
sought for and carried away wholesale by hawkers, 
etc. These plants, such as primroses, periwinkles, 
daffodils, wild orchids, snowdrops, lilies-of-the- 
valley and ferns, are local if not exactly rare, 
though they are soon made so in some districts by 
these rogues. Tulipa silvestris and some of the wild 
orchids are occasionally lost by new workings in old 


263 


nitidissima, Baud. 

subvimata, Reinh. 

pseudohydatina, Bgt. 

major, Morel. 

dubrueili, Cless.; France, Switzerland. A 
sub-var. of our var. contvacta. 


(rr) H. Futva, Miill. 
majoy, Moq. Much larger. 
pratensis, Baud. 
montana, Baud. 


(12) VITRINA PELLUCIDA, Miill. 
angelice, Beck. Norway, Iceland, Greenland. 
A distinct species according to Westerlund. 
dvaparnaudi, Moq.; France. 
vellaviana, Pascal. 
perforata, West. ; Sweden, Germany, France. 
sinistrvorsa. Shell sinistral.—See Zool. Record 


for 1879. 
brunnensis, Ulicny. 
minoy, West. Small, depressed, thinner, 


hyaline, aperture rounded. 

bellavdit, Poll.; Italy. More shining, flatter 
above, more convex below, smoother, 
minutely striatulate at suture. 

vadiata, Amstein. 


(To be continued.) 


AND NATURALIZATION OF PLANTS. 


chalk-pits, and on railway embankments. Others 
are lost by turning pasture-land into arable fields ; 
by floods ; the building of railways; the improve- 
ment of rivers; the encroachment of the sea; the 
clearing of forests; the drainage of bogs, etc. 
Exotic plants are introduced into our meadows, 
woods, etc., by natural or artificial means, also as 
strays and garden waifs. As agents promoting the 
first-named we may mention winds, rivers, seas 
and birds. The second, by intentional naturaliza- 
tion, many plants having been made at home by 
this method. Thewhite dead-nettle (Lamium album), 
which is a very common weed in some parts of 
England, was once carefully transplanted to Scot- 
land, and at present some enthusiastic plant-lovers 
are trying to establish that most beautiful of all 
our native orchids, the ladies’-slipper (Cypripedium 
calceolus) in our woods, which were once favoured 
with its presence, Bulbs, such as snowdrops and 
daffodils, specially lend themselves to this treat- 
ment, and a wood planted with hardy-growing 
subjects forms a quiet and beautiful wild garden. 
Strays are generally short-lived, but the opposite 
is occasionally the case. Garden rubbish is thrown 
into plantations and the bits of plants live for a 
little time and may even spread. Foreign grasses 
and weeds are sown in pastures and lawns; and 
trees from plantations and arboreta gradually 
establish and spread themselves, and soon have 
the appearance of having been wild for years. 
Davip S. FIsH. 
12, Fettes Row, Edinburgh. 


264 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


BRITISH “FRESHWATER MITES. 
By C. F. GEORGE. 


[* ScIENCE-GossiP for 1881, 1882, 1883 and 1884 

are papers written by me on Avrenurus (a 
family of freshwater mites), in which I described 
and figured the members of this family I had then 
met with and identified. 

I have now to add two more species not described 
in any of these papers, and, so far as I know, not 
before recorded as British. The first, Avvenwrus 
crassipetiolatus, Koenike, is a very beautiful blood- 
red mite, reminding one somewhat of A. tricuspida- 
toy, but rather larger. The males of the Arrenuri 
are easily identified by their tails, one species 
differing so palpably from another that a very 


Fig. 1.—a, Avrenurus crasst- 
pettolatus, male ; b, tail. 


casual examination under the microscope is 
sufficient for identification. The figures accom- 
panying this article have been kindly drawn for 
me by my friend, Mr. Chas. D. Soar, who has had 
the living creatures from me. The legs are not 
figured, they are of the usual Avrenurus type, the 
last leg having the remarkable spur on the last 
joint but two well developed. The tail, which is 
well and clearly figured, requires no description, 
“but should be compared with the other figures of 
the males of this family to be found in the 
volumes of ScizNcE-Gossip mentioned in the 
beginning of this paper. I may say that all these 


creatures are most beautiful, and best examined 
whilst alive; yet very interesting mounts in balsam 
can be prepared from them, although the colours, 
of course, are greatly altered. When well mounted, 
they form very beautiful additions to the cabinet, 
and will last for years. I have not yet identified 
the female of this mite; the male was found by 
me on September goth, 1895. 

The second mite is much smaller than A. crassi- 
petiolatus, it is of a beautiful green colour, and is at 
present known as Avrrenurus bruzelii, Koenike. Its 
colour becomes bluish when mounted in balsam ; 
it appears to be Koch’s A. albatoy, and with minute 


Fig. 2.—a Avrenurus bruzelii, male; b, tail; c, female; d, genital plates of female. ~ 


* 


examination and some imagination, it will be found 
to agree with the figure in his ‘‘ Deutschlands 
Crustaceen,” etc., Heft 12, Taf 15-16, published 
1835-41; but why he should name it Arrenurus 
albatory, Mull., I cannot imagine. Miiller’s figure 
does not resemble it either in shape or colour. It 
has been found and described by several authors, 
in different countries, and under different names ; 
according to Piersig, Bruzelius described and 
figured it under the name of A. emarginator, in 
1884; Krendowskij as A. albatory, in 1885; Koenike 
as A. bruzelii; whilst Berlese named it A. mallcator. 


Kirton-in-Lindsey ; January, 1897. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


265 


PLANTS AND MOSSES IN NORWAY. 


By WILLIAM Epwarp NICHOLSON. 


‘Te expedition of the ‘‘ Norse King’’ to Vadso, 

on the Varanger Fiord, for the purpose of 
observing the total eclipse of the sun on August 
oth last, though a failure from an astronomical 
point of view, at least afforded an almost unique 
opportunity to a naturalist of visiting a remote and 
interesting part of Norway under favourable 
circumstances. Unfortunately, the expedition was 
at least a month too late for seeing the country at 
its best. The sun sank at midnight for a short 
time below the horizon the night after we rounded 
the North Cape, for the time since the end of May. 
Though it is true that there was no real night and 
there was light enough to read by at midnight, yet 
with the first setting sun autumn may be said to 
commence in these high latitudes. Nature had 
fulfilled her purposes; the berries were ripe and the 
young birds were ready to fly away. 

But few opportunities for natural history work 
presented themselves on the outward voyage, though 
such as occurred were taken advantage of. The 
first port touched at was Stavanger, in the South 
of Norway, from whence an excursion was made 
overland to Odde, crossing the Horre Pass at about 
3,000 feet, where many plants such as Cornus 
sulcica and Menziesia cerulea, which were over lower 
down, were met with in flower, as indeed were 
many of them again, almost at sea-level, in the far 
North. 

On leaving Odde we did not touch anywhere 
until we reached Bodo, well within the Arctic 
circle, where we had a day on shore. The sur- 
roundings of Bod6 are picturesque, and by climbing 
the hills at the back of the town we obtained a 
fine view of the distant Lofoten Islands. It is 
much to be regretted that some of our party did 
not remain at Bodo, as it was on the line of 
totality, and was favoured with a clear sky on the 
morning of the eclipse. The duration of totality 
was, however, shorter than at Vadso, and the 
altitude of the sun at the time was too low to 
admit of very delicate observations. The whole 
country round Bodé, at least the low land, with 
the exception of a hard road made across it, 
appeared to be covered with bog of varying degrees 
of stability, the firmest portions being where the 
peat had been cut for fuel, or where the cultivation 
of a few patches of rye was attempted. Islands 
of rocks rose from time to time above the level 
of the bog, and formed more stable ground, on 
which there was frequently a scrubby growth of 
birch, aspen and several species of willow. On the 
mountains at the back of the town there were several 
rock-basins which had evidently at one time con- 


tained small mountain tarns, but which had become 
filled up by the growth of peat. Both here and else- 
where in Arctic Norway I was surprised to find that 
the species of Sphagnum did not appear to play so im- 
portant a part in the growth of the peat as I had 
expected. Several species occurred in nearly all 
the bogs, but generally they did not form so large a 
proportion of the vegetation as they do in our 
English bogs. Various species of Salix and 
Vaccinium and Rubus chamemorus, with other smaller 
plants, appeared to very largely form the peat. 

Leaving Bodé, we called the next day at Harstad, 
a picturesque little town, with white houses and 
green meadows down to the water’s edge. Many 
interesting mosses were gathered in some marshy 
openings in a birch wood close to the town, but 
there was no time for much work as the ship left 
again at 1.30p.m. The neighbourhood of Harstad 
was well wooded, and I was very much struck by 
the fact that the trunks of the trees were entirely 
destitute of mosses. Rotten stumps harboured 
their peculiar species, but there were none on the 
living trunks. In the south of Norway, on the 
contrary, the trunks of trees were frequently 
thickly clothed with mosses, especially with various 
species of Ulota and Orthotrichum. Possibly the 
lower temperature and keen winds might account 
for their absence from this habitat in the north, as 
in all other situations they would be thickly covered 
with snow during the winter. 

After leaving Harstad we did not touch anywhere 
until we reached Vads6, at midnight on the 2nd 
August. The scenery in northern Norway, after 
passing Hammerfest, is stern and desolate through- 
out; but on rounding the North Cape it became 
still more inhospitable. The sombre, precipitous 
cliffs, tinged only at sunset with a warmer hue, gave 
place to the low, featureless shore on either side of 
the broad mouth of the Tana river, across which, 
when we passed, there hung a heavy veil of fog. 
The same scenery is continued along the northern 
shore of the Varanger Fiord, and very desolate the 
dreary little town of Vads6 looked, thinly scattered 
along the margin of a narrow inlet. Although the 
surroundings of Vadsi did not look promising for 
botanical work, yet they proved to be fairly good 
on a closer acquaintance. To the west of the town, 
and parallel with the shore, are several tiers of 
raised beaches, which attracted the attention of the 
geologists on board and proved to be very good for 
the plants requiring a dry situation. Here it was 
that the curious and interesting Diapensia lapponica, 
L., was most abundant. A stream had cut through 
the raised beaches, providing an excellent section 


266 


of them, and the deep, loose banks thus formed 
afforded a special locality for plants. The rest 
of the ground was mostly bog of varying degrees of 
humidity. Climbing the low hills beyond the raised 
beaches provided no escape from the endless 
morass, as the bogs formed on the flat table- 
land above were at least as wet as those in the 
valleys. 

During the stay of the ‘‘ Norse King” at Vadsé, 
from the 2nd to the gth of August, I made an excur- 
sion with a friend to the southern shore of the ford, 
where we stayed for two days at a small settlement 
called Elvenes, on a long narrow inlet from the 
South Varanger. The Pasvik River, which drains 
the large lake Enara, and is an excellent salmon 
stream, ran into the fiord just below the little hotel 
at which we stayed, which was close to the 
Russian boundary. The scenery on this side was 
quite different from that at Vadsé, and the South 
Varanger Fiord, with a chain of low mountains on 
either side from which long promontories projected 
into the water so as apparently to enclose it as a 
lake, was much finer than anything to be seen on 
the north of the Varanger. This quiet scenery was 
especially beautiful at night, when the ruddy glow 
of sunset slowly swept round the northern horizon 
with scarce diminished splendour until it flamed 
into daybreak, lighting up, as it passed, the dark 
waters of the fiord with ever-changing streaks of fire, 
and causing the wet glistening rocks on the mountain 
side to glow like dying embers. One could, indeed, 
appreciate the force of Wordsworth’s simile, ‘‘ As 
lovely asa Lapland night.’’ The vegetation too was 
far more luxuriant. The path from the landing- 
stage was bordered with large tufts of the handsome 
pink (Dianthus superbus), and led through a wood 
with birches from thirty to forty feet high, and a 
few scattered pines and alders. The stony 
torrent beds in the wood were frequently covered 
with a luxuriant growth of the rose-bay and tufted- 
vetch, so that it was at times difficult to realize 
how far north we really were. The wood was 
especially appreciated after WVadsé, where the 
scrubby birches and willows which maintained 
an existence there were seldom as much as five 
feet high. 

On the return journey we called at Hammerfest, 
where the Tyven (1,240 feet), a mountain rising 
close behind the town, proved rather rich botani- 
cally; and also at Tromsé, where, as the ship ran 
aground, there was rather more time for obser- 
vation. Tromsé6 is quite a cheerful looking place 
for its latitude, and the huge plants of Heracleum 
giganteum, which was very common in the gardens, 
gave them quite a luxuriant appearance. In one 
part of the town a large number of the leaves of 
this bold plant were being dried, but for what 
purpose I could not ascertain. 

Besides these places in Arctic Norway we also 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


called at several places farther south; but as most 
of the time was consumed in sight-seeing, there 
was not much opportunity for botanical work, and 
in the following list I have only noticed a few 
mosses from the southern localities, as but little 
was done among the higher plants. I was, however, 
rather pleased at finding the local fern Struthiopteris 
germanica in some abundance at Stalheim. 

Upwards of 160 species of flowering plants and 
ferns were gathered or noticed in the Arctic parts 
of Norway, of which the following were among the 
most interesting : 

Thalictrum alpinum, L.—Not uncommon in a bog 
at Elvenes, growing on Sphagnum. 

Ranunculus hyperboreus.—This curious little species 
occurred in several places near Vadso, and by the 
shore of the Pasvik river at Elvenes, creeping on 
wet mud. 

Trollius ewvopeus, L.—Over at Vadsé, where it 
was common in seed. Some perfect flowers were, 
however, gathered on high ground at Troms6 on 
August 12th. 

Avabis petyea, Lam.—On the raised beaches to 
the west of Vadso. 

Subulavia aquatica, L.—Growing with Ranunculus 
hypevboreus by the shore of the Pasvik river at 
Elvenes. 

Dianthus superbus, L.—Occurred at Vadsé, below 
a rocky ledge to the west of the town. It was, 
however, far commoner on the southern shore of 
the fiord. 

Silene acaulis, L.—Large cushions of this little 
Alpine plant were common on the Tyven at 
Hammerfest. 

Cevastium alpinum, L.--A very hairy form of this 
plant occurred on the island at Vadsé from which 
the observations on the eclipse were to have been 
made. 

Oxytropis lapponica.—Raised beaches near Vadso. 

Dryas octopetala, L.—Only noticed on the Tyven, 
at Hammerfest, where a few specimens were in 
flower as late as August 11th. 

Rubus chamemorus, L.—Common everywhere in 
the north, but especially so at Elvenes, where the 
little hillocks which it forms in the bogs were 
quite bright with its handsome orange fruit. F 

Sibbaldia procumbens, L.—Common at Vadso. 
Saxifvaga oppositifolia, L.—Mountains above Bodo. 
The flowers were over. S. aizoides, L.—Swampy 
places by rivulets at Bodé, Vadsé and elsewhere. 
S. nivalis, L.—Bogs near Vadso._ S. stellavis, L.— 
Very abundant in bogs near Vadsé, where most of 
the specimens were covered with viviparous buds 
in lieu of flowers. I was for some time at a loss to 
know what this strange-looking plant could be, but 
after some search a few perfect ‘flowers were found 
mixed with the viviparous buds on a few specimens. 
This form, the var. comosa, is also recorded from 
Spitzbergen. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Ligusticum scoticum, L.—Growing by the shore 
with Mertensia maritima, Don., both at Vadsé and 
Tromso. 

Cornus suecica, L.—Very abundant about Vadsi, 
where it was still in flower. In one spot a long 
series was gathered illustrating the gradual rever- 
sion of the white involucral bracts into leaves, some 
being only faintly streaked with green, others 
almost equally divided into white and green 
halves, and others being green with only faint 
indications of white. 

Linnea borealis, Gronot.—Fairly common, both at 
Vadsé and Elvenes. 

Evigevon alpinus, L.—Meadows about Harstad. 

Gnaphalium norvegicum, Gun. — On the raised 
beaches, Vadso. 

Saussurea alpina, Dc.—Abundant and often very 
luxurious in swampy places by rivulets at Vadsé, 
Elvenes and Harstad, often growing with Carduus 
heterophyllus, L. 

Sonchus alpinus, L.—By a stream near Vadso. 

Hievacium alpinum, L.—Not uncommon on hill- 
sides at Vadsi. 

All the four British species of Vaccinium occurred 
on the Varanger. JV. myrtillus, L., was very abun- 
dant in fruit at Elvenes, and a stunted form of 
V. uliginosum, L., fruited freely at Vadsé. V. vitis- 
idea, L., appeared to be rare in Arctic Norway, 
though very abundant in the southern parts. V. 
oxyoccus, L., though not common, occurred in many 
of the bogs. The fruit was just beginning to ripen, 
but that of the previous season was often present 
and still fit to eat. 

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Spreng.—Not very com- 
mon; it occurred in the woods about Elvenes. 
A. alpina, Spreng.—Abundant in berry in dry open 
places, as on the raised beaches at Vadsé and the 
mountains above Bodo. 

Andromeda polifolia, L._—Common everywhere in 
bogs. It was mostly over, but a specimen was 
gathered in flower near Vadsé. A. hypnoides.— 
This curious species, which, notwithstanding 
its specific name, is more like a Club moss 
than a Hypnum, was fairly common on the 
Tyven at Hammerfest, but was not noticed else- 
where. The corolla had unfortunately fallen in all 
cases. 

Menziesia cerulea, Sm.—Common on mountain 
sides in all the places visited in Arctic Norway. A 
few lingering flowers might be seen in elevated 
localities. 

Ledum palustre——Common in the bogs about 
Elvenes. The underside of the leaves and the 
stem of this plant are covered with a rust-coloured 
down, and it has a very pungent smell which is 
said to keep mosquitoes at bay; but, as far as my 
experience went, they entirely ignored it, as they 
did eucalyptus, or, indeed, any measures taken 
against them. 


L 


267 


Pyrola rotundifolia, L.—This handsome species 
was rather common in the bogs near Vadsié. Its 
long curved style and open flowers well distinguish 
it from its congeners in the field. 

Primula farinosa, L.—Occurred about Vadsi, but 
in seed only, the flowers having long been over. 

Trientalis europea, L.—Evidently very common 
in Arctic Norway early in the season. A consider- 
able patch was found in flower near Vadsé, where 
a snow-drift had only recently thawed. 

Gentiana nivalis, L.—In aswampy spot near Vadso, 
G. involucrata.—Vadso6 and Tromsé, in open, sandy 
places. It is distinguished from G. amarella, L., 
and G. campestris, L., with both of which it some- 
times grew, by the absence of the fringing hairs 
from the throat of the corolla. 

_Diapensia lupponica, L.—Common on the raised 
beaches near Vadso, the Tyven at Hammerfest, 
and the mountains above Bodé. The flowers were 
over, but the firm, persistent calyx was very 
conspicuous. It grows in very exposed places ; 
but the hard, leathery leaves and the compact 
habit of the plant enable it to withstand all the 
vicissitudes of the weather. 

Limosella aquatica, L.—On damp mud at Elvenes 
with Ranunculus hyperboreus and Subulavia aquatica. 

Veronica spicata, L.—Stony places by the Pasvik 
River at Elvenes. 

Bartsia alpina, L.—Common by streams and in 
marshy places in all the northern localities visited. 

Pedicularis sceptrum-cavolinum, Rudb.—This very 
handsome species was fairly plentiful in the bogs 
about Vadsé and Elvenes, where it was very 
conspicuous, the tall spikes of yellow flowers 
with a purple lip being frequently over three feet 
high. It is called by the Norwegians ‘‘ kongsspir,”’ 
and was named by Rudbeck in honour of Charles II. 
of Sweden. 

Oxyria veniformis, Campd.—Common on _ loose 
stony banks about Vadsé. 

Polygonum viviparum, L.—Very abundant about 
Vads6, and frequently quite green with the growing 
viviparous buds. 

Kénigia islandica—This tiny annual occurred 
both at Vadsé and Hammerfest on moist but not 
boggy ground in fairly extensive patches of a 
reddish-green colour. 

Empetrum nigrum, L.—Abundant about Vadsé, 
the streets of which were thickly strewn with it on 
the occasion of a very sad funeral from a British 
ship during our stay. 

Betula nana, L.—Common in all the places visited 
in Northern Norway. In one locality near Vadsé 
there was a most interesting series of hybrids 
between this species and B. alba, L., some par- 
taking more of one parent and some of the other. 
The form has been named B. inteymedia, but there 
can be no doubt as to its true origin. 

Salix herbacea, L.— Common on the Tyven. A 


3 


268 


great many species of Salix occur in Arctic Norway, 
but they were not in a good condition for identifi- 
cation at the time of our visit. 

Potamogeton nitens, Weber.—In the river Pasvick 
at Elvenes. 
Bennett, the authority on the genus, who kindly 
named it for me, and pointed out that it differed 
from most forms of the species in the shortness of 
the spikes, tenuity of the leaves and slender stems. 

Narthecium ossifragum, Huds.—Marsh near Bodo. 
It is stated by Bentham, in his ‘‘ Handbook of the 
British Flora,” not to be an Arctic plant. 

Tojieldia palustris, Huds.—Common in seed in the 
bogs near Vadso. 

Several species of Carex were common, but I 
parted with my specimens before attempting their 
identification. Eviophorum vaginatum, L., and 
E. polystachum, L., were common in bogs on the 
Varanger, the dense, cottony heads of the former 
being frequently larger than is usual with British 
specimens. 

Although grasses suitable for pasturage are rare 
on the Varanger Fiord, a considerable number of 


species, such as Molinea cerulea, Moench., Nardus — 


stricta, L., Aira cespitosa, L., and A. flexuosa, L., are 
fairly abundant. None of them, however, would 
be very attractive to cattle.~- Phleum alpinum, L., 
was not uncommon at Harstad. 

In striking contrast to the southern parts of 
Norway, ferns are comparatively rare in the north. 
Woodsia ilvensis, Br., occurred in damp crevices of 
rocks near Elvenes, but the plants were very stunted 
as compared with some noticed at Stalheim. 

(To be continued.) 


THE CHANNEL ISLANDS. 
By ALFRED H. BASTIN. 
(Continued from page 215.) 

yA the steamer enters the harbour the appear- 

ance of St. Helier does not impress one very 
favourably. It seems to be a busy and rather 
dirty little port; the quays and warehouses convey 
an idea of “‘ town life,’ which is not pleasing to 
the traveller in search of the open country. 
But when one becomes better acquainted with the 
locality, and finds out how easy it is, by the aid of 
the two small railway systems, to reach open heaths, 
bold rock-bound stretches of coast and lovely 
sandy bays, one soon forgets the harbour and its 
surroundings. 

By the aid of the Western Railway, St. Aubin 
—a distance of four miles from St. Helier—can be 
reached in the course of half-an-hour. This spot 
is a good base of operations, as the whole of the 
shore from St. Aubin to La Corbiére is worth a 
thorough investigation. For instance, a whole day 
might well be spent at Portelet Bay. The steep 


I submitted this specimen to Mr. A.. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ground sloping up from the beach is clothed with 
vegetation, bracken, ling and blackberry-bushes pre- 
dominating. Butterflies are numerous. I observed 
some I had not previously noticed in the islands: 
Gonepteryx rhamni, Vanessa to, V.urtice and V.c-album. 
V. folychlovos was also being found in the lanes 
farther inland. Helix nemoralis was exceedingly 
plentiful on the herbage close to the shore. When 
looking through a list of shells collected from the 
beach at Jersey, a naturalist would at once infer 
the extremely rocky nature of the coast. At 
Portelet Bay the following were collected: Nassa 
veticulata, N. incvassata, Murex erinaceous, Litiorina 
litiovalis, L. vudis, Tyochus ziryphinus, T. lineatus, 
T. umbilicatus, T. cineria. The shell of T. ziryphinus, 
when alive, exhibits a lovely blue tint, difficult to 
describe but exceedingly beautiful in appearance ; 
unfortunately this colour entirely fades a few hours 
after the animal has been killed. Purpura lapilius 
is found on the rocks in very large numbers, the 
shells showing a great variety in colour and banding. 
Limpets are everywhere strewn on the surface 
of the stone. All that were examined proved to be 
Patella vulgata. Farther along the coast two 
species of the curious ‘‘ coat of mail” shells were 
found on the under surface of small stones in rock- 
pools ai low water; these were Chifon fascicularis 
and C. cinereus. The number and beauty of the sea 
anemones was remarkable, although the species 
did not appear to be numerous. In some instances 
closely-packed groups covering patches of rock a 
yard or more square were noticed. Dead specimens 
of Cardium edulis and Tapes palustra were picked up 
on the sands in St. Aubin’s Bay. In a little 
“* chine” called La Rosiére Thecla rubi and Zygena 
lonicere occurred. 

So much for the Western Railway district. Now 
let us turn our attention to Mount Orgueil Castle, 
on the Eastern system. The grounds of this 
ancient pile proved quite a happy hunting- 
ground, so far as lepidoptera are concerned. 
Besides most of the insects previously mentioned, 
the pretty “holly blue” (Lycena argiolus) was 
found. Numbers of these little butterflies were 
to be seen flying about in the sunshine or 
sitting with half-opened wings on the pink 
blackberry blossoms. Bombyx quercus simply 
swarmed here. It was to be seen on all sides— 
flying round the grey walls, settling on the ivy, or 
soaring in the sunshine. We managed to beat out 
one specimen of the ‘‘ Jersey Tiger” (Callimorpha 
heva). These few notes must not be concluded 
without mention being made of the pretty green 
lizards (Lacerta viridis) which abound on the 
island wherever there are rocks and stones for 
them to hide amongst. They may often be seen 
sunning themselves in the open, but they rush 
back into their holes like a flash of green light on 
the slightest suspicion of danger. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 36o 


ABNOR MATE) PLANS S. 


By Epwin E. TuRNER. 


ype accompanying sketches represent two of 

the largest specimens of fasciated stems 
which have come under my notice. The holly 
(Ilex aquifolium) was obtained from a hedge which 


tkinches. The wallflower (Cheivanthus cheivi) grew in 
a cottage garden, and its dimensions before drying 
were—length, 74 inches; width at base, 1} inches; 
widest part, 139;. inches. 


Hotty (Ilex aquifolium). 


had been cut down some time before, and the 
figure is from one of the new shoots, which fact 
seems to point to the probable cause of this 
peculiar staghorn-like growth as being some 
damage done to the buds in cutting. Its total 
length was 36 inches; from fork to apex, 17} inches; 
width of widest branch, 24 inches; and other branch, 


WALLFLOWER (Cheitvanthus chciri). 


I have also a stem of willow (Salix, sp.) which is 
much longer than that of the holly above- 
mentioned, but only one of the forks is flattened, 
and then only to the extent of about five-eighths of 
an inch. 


Coggeshall, Essex ; 
February 3rd, 1897. 


270 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


MICROSCOPIC ALG. 


By JamMEs Burton. 


I T would be difficult to suggest any more beautiful 

objects for examination under the microscope, 
and certainly none are easier to obtain than the 
common species of lower alge. Owing to the wet 
and mild weather we have been having, they are to 
be found everywhere: on old walls, fences, and 
iree-trunks, and on the ground at the base of these 
they are abundant. The dweller in town, as wellas 
his more fortunate country conjrére, has them plenii- 
fully at hand. While all are interesting and may be 
easily investigated by even the beginner, identifica- 
tion is often sufficiently difficult to seriously engage 
the attention of those well practised in ordinary 
botanical work. Unfortunately there is no exactly 
popular work dealing with this class, and the more 
technical books are expensive and go further into 
the subject than an amateur would care to do. 
Still much may be accomplished by a diligent use 
of small means. Dr. Cooke's litile book, ‘‘ One 
Thousand Objects for the Microscope,” published 
at one shilling, contains a brief but useful 
description and some illustrations of many species. 
Indeed, this book forms quite a vade mecum in every 
department for the play-time microscopist.. The 
plant now to be considered does not appear in it 
by the name given here, but, as will presently be 
seen, is not entirely unnoticed. 

PrasIoLa is perhaps one of the most common 
and it is certainly not the least interesting of the 
terrestrial alge, if one may be allowed to use a 
term which is more descriptive than logical. It is 
found in somewhat sheltered situations on the 
ground, at the base of walls, fences, etc. Within 
a short walk of my neighbourhood there are more 
than half-a-dozen places where it flourishes all the 
year round, and may be found in greater or less 
abundance. according io the weather. It con- 
sists of a bright green, very thin membranous 
frond, varying considerably insize; a nice specimen 
I carefully spread out lately—no easy matter—was 
about three-quarters of an inch long by half an 
inch wide. The frond is much folded and 
crumpled, with the edges often lobed, and under 
favourable conditions growing vigorously, and 
producing short filaments and proliferations. 
Under thé microscope the plant is seen to be 
composed of square cells filled with green proto- 
plasm, without a nucleus; the walls aresomewhat 
thick. The layer of cells is one deep only; they 
fit closely together, and are arranged sometimes 
in lines but more frequently in squarish areas, 
bounded by walls somewhai thicker than those 
between the individual cells. The whole formsa 
pretty object when nicely displayed, and has been 


compared by an old writer to a well laid out 
garden, with walks between neatly-disposed flower- 
beds. A half or quarter inch objective is neces- 
sary for the details. 

Prasiola is a member of the order Ulvacez, to 
which belongs the very common and well-known 
seaweed, Ulva, sometimes called sea-lettuce or laver, 
and in Ireland, sloke. This is plentiful on most 
shores, and closely resembles a gigantic Pvrasiola, 
consisting of membranous fronds often many 
inches in length; but having two layers of cells 
instead of one only it is thicker and tougher. 
Eniervomorpha is another genus in the same 
order, its frond is tubular and floats in either 
fresh, brackish or salt water, according to 
species. A plant called Schizogonium is usually 
reckoned as another genus, and will be referred 
to presently. 

One of the most interesting facts about Prasiola 
is its persistent vitality under unfavourable con- 
ditions. Though delighting in moisture, it bears 
desiccation without injury, and during the two last 
dry summers has been found in the usual places, 
perfectly dry and ready to break up with a touch; 
yet on being placed in a saucer of water it at once 
absorbs moisture and becomes pliant, the green 
colour revives, and it is ready to start growth with 
renewed vigour. Specimens treated in this way and 
then left to dry up have revived again and again, 
though on some occasions left in the desiccated 
state, and even in the sun, for weeks at a time. 
Though so tolerant of drought it is not soon 
injured by what would seem an equal excess in the 
other direction, and it flourishes well and 
apparently indefinitely if kept actually in water. 
It grows quite freely in an aquarium, though 
generally suffering from the attacks of the 
various aquatic animals which feed on it readily. 
Even the extremes above referred to do not 
exhaust its adaptive capacities, for it will endure 
a not inconsiderable amount of salt in the 
water it is growing in, and, I believe—though 
not speaking from experience—it is sometimes 
found in brackish marshes. Of course freezing 
is a matter of indifference to such a plant, 
and it recovers from the process without difficulty. 
There is one thing, however, it does not seem 
capable of enduring, and that is being overgrown 
by grass and other small herbage. At the beginning 
of the wet weather we had last autumn there was 
a fine patch close to a fence in this district, but as 
the wet weather continued the grass, which the 
previous drought had destroyed, began to grow 
among the Prasiola, and a little later, on going to 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


the place for specimens, none were to be found. 
No doubt the taller grass had killed the whole by 
shutting out necessary light and air. 

Sexual reproduction in Prasiola is quite unknown, 
and doubtless does not exist. Non-sexual propa- 
gation takes place by the protoplasm rounding 
itself off and escaping from the cells by solution of 
the walls, forming gonidia which have no power of 
spontaneous movement, being destitute of cilia, 
but are dispersed by water. Vegetative reproduc- 
tion is very copious, as any portion separated from 
a frond will continue to live and grow, while 
the lobes and proliferations, which are produced 
freely at its margins under favourable circum- 
stances, are especially liable to become detached, 


THE EGGS OF THE 


JDROFESSOR Ray Lankester has written an 

interesting letter to the ‘‘ Times,” describing 
the successful search, by Dr. Arthur Willey, a 
friend and former pupil of his, for the eggs of the 
pearly nautilus. ‘Two and a-half years ago 
Dr. Willey ’’—says Professor Lankester — ‘‘ left 
England for the South Seas to conduct his search. 
The pearly nautilus is the only living represen- 
tative of the great group of extinct animals whose 
shells are known as ammonites. So rare were 
specimens of the animal itself that twenty years 
ago I paid £18 for two preserved in spirit. Yet 
they are trapped in baskets like lobster-traps by 
the natives of some of the Melanesian Islands and 
used as food. The structure of the animal is 
extremely curious, and an admirable account of it 
formed the first and in many respects the ablest 
scientific memoir produced by Sir Richard Owen. 
The nautilus is allied to the cuttle fishes, but 
differs from them in most interesting ways. To 
fully understand its structure and the mode of 
building up of its chambered shell it is necessary 
to know its young stages whilst it is growing and 
forming within the egg. To gain this knowledge 
will be a great triumph; it has been one of the few 
important embryonic histories not yet ascertained 
by the enterprise of latter-day naturalists. 

“Dr. Willey proceeded first to Ralum, in New 
Britain, where he spent a year trapping the nautilus 
in seventy fathoms of water and dredging in vain for 
its eggs. He then tried a station on the coast of 
New Guinea, where he was nearly drowned by the 
capsize of his small craft. After passing through 
New Caledonia, he arrived last summer in Lifu, 
one of the Loyalty Islands, where nautili can be 
captured in three fathoms depth only. Here he 
constructed a large submarine cage in which he 
kept specimens of the nautilus, feeding them daily. 


271 
and will originate a new plant. It has been 
stated on good authority that Prasiola is but 


the adult stage of what is usually considered 
another plant ; or, indeed, it might be said, of what 
is looked upon as a series of plants. The most 
definite is generally known as Lyngbya; but it 
would occupy too much space to enter now on that 
part of the subject. 

I shall be pleased to forward specimens of 
Prasiola, and Lyngbya also, so far as available 
material will allow, to anyone sending address 
and stamp for postage. 


9, Agamemnon Road, West Hampstead, 
London, S.W.; February, 1897. 


(To be continued.) 


EE AR Ivey NAS tS: 


On December 5th last his patient endeavours were 
rewarded. Some of the nautili had spawned in the 
cage, and thenceforward he was able to obtain 
abundant samples of the eggs. Each egg is as 
large as a grape, and is deposited separately by the 
mother nautilus. At present we have received but 
few further details from Dr. Willey, but he has 
doubtless by this time obtained the young in all 
stages of growth, and will return to England with 
the materials for a most important memoir. 

“Dr. Willey was enabled to undertake this quest 
by his appointment to the Balfour studentship, 
founded by general subscription in memory of 
Frank Balfour, whose heart would have been 
rejoiced by the work thus carried out in his name. 
He was also assisted by the Government grant 
fund of the Royal Society. It is a legitimate 
source of gratification to British men of science 
that a successful result has followed from the 
application of these funds. By aid of the same funds 
Mr. Caldwell, twelve years ago, discovered the 
eggs of the Australian duck-mole and echidna and 
the larval stages of the remarkable fish, ceratodus, 
of Queensland—an animal which, like nautilus, is 
a survival of most ancient extinct forms. Our 
younger naturalist travellers have in this past year 
elsewhere given proof of their energy and devotion 
and done credit to the British name in the field of 
science. Mr. Spencer Moore is on his way home 
from Lake Tanganyika, where he has successfully 
studied the freshwater jellyfish and other 
important animals living in those waters; whilst 
Mr. Graham Kerr is returning from the Paraguay 
River with an abundant supply of the embryos of 
the South American lepidosiren, an exceptionally 
interesting fish which, until four years ago, was 
known by but six specimens in European 
museums,” 


272 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


NATURE NOTES IN THE RIVIERA. 


By Joun T. CarRINGTON. 


(Continued from page 248.) 


EHIND the Palais de Longchamp, in which is 
the Museum at Marseilles, described last 
month (ante p. 247), are the Zoological Gardens, 
which form a branch of the Jardin d’Acclimatation 
of Paris. They are small in extent and chiefly 
used for the storage of different animals which 
arrive at the port from tropical and sub-tropical 
regions. These consequently vary a good deal in 
numbers, both in species and individuals: for, 
after remaining a short period to rest and to 
recover from the effects of their voyages, most 
of them are distributed by sale to various 
zoological societies and private individuals. The 
cages allotted to birds are often very pretty 
when occupied by large crowds of a single 
species. On one occasion I saw an immense flock 
of several thousand specimens of the little green 
Australian grass paraquets, which, in the bright 
sunlight, made quite a dazzling sight. There are 
some few animals which are more permanent 
residents, especially in the monkey-house, where 
they are in excellent condition and apparently much 
attached to an agreeable keeper who shows much 
interest in them. 

At Hyéres, between the old town and the station, 
is another branch garden belonging to the Paris 
Acclimatization Society which cannot be called a 
zoological establishment in the ordinary sense. It 
is chiefly used-as a sanatorium for the animals 
which are too delicate to be kept in the Paris 
gardens of the Society, or are unsuited to the ex- 
tremes of climate which are often so sharply felt in 
the Metropolis of France. Occasionally one finds 
really interesting and rare animals which are under 
any Circumstances worth visiting: as also are the 
gardens, which are beautifully situated, prettily 
arranged and free of admission at Hyéres. At 
Marseilles the entrance fee is a franc, excepting 
on Sundays and holidays, when there is music— 
then it is half that sum. 

At Nice—or, more correctly, in the beautiful 
suburb of Cimiez—is a zoological garden of not 
very large extent established by the late Count 
Tripier de Lagrange. These gardens are a 
favourite resort of the holiday-making Nicois, 
especially in summer time. They are well kepi, 
and the animals thrive splendidly in the clear, 
warm, but bracing air surrounding them. The 
lions and tigers are fine specimens, and there is a 
particularly good black variety of leopard, through 
whose sooty coat the darker spots in thefur are barely 
traceable. There are several species of bears and 
some deer: but, unfortunately, to most of the native 


visitors the excellent restaurant in the grounds has 
greater attractions than the rarest animals. The 
view from the terrace in front of this restaurant is 
magnificent, including the torrential Valley of the 
Paillon which ends in high Alpine ranges backed 
by snow-capped peaks. On the opposite side of 
the valley on Mont Gros, at an altitude of about 
1,200 feet above the sea, are the conspicuous 
buildings of the Observatory which were erected 
and equipped by Mons. Bischofisheim, the rich 
Paris financier, Deputy of the Alpes Maritimes, 
and presented by him to the city of Nice; though 
he retains conirol during his lifetime. It is now 
a centre of meieorological as well as astronomical 
observation. The buildings include pavilions for 
the large and small equatorials, spectroscopical and 
physical departments, and handsome dwelling- 
house for the staff, which numbers about a dozen 
assistants, besides servants. There is also the 
library, which coniains some seven or eight 
thousand volumes. The Observatory is connected 
with the city by telephone, it being about four 
miles out of town. 

Near the flower market in the Rue St. Francois 
de Paule is the City Free Library (Bibliothéque 
Municipale) where there are some books on 
biological subjects, though not very modern or up- 
to-date in character. The student will find the 
MS. catalogue devoted to Science divided into 
sections, and he has only to ask for the book he 
requires when he will at once be attended to. 
Botanists who care to know something of the 
literature of their subject will also do well to visit 
the library of the Agricultural Society, which also 
includes horticulture, at No. 11, Place Garibaldi. 
As stated in my notes last month, Mons. J. Olivier, 
at the museum in Place Garibaldi, is a good 
botanist, and will help those in difficulties with 
unfamiliar plants. Mons. Olivier recommends as the 


best hand-book for the botanist visiting the 2 


Riviera ‘‘ Flora Analytique des Alpes Maritimes,” 
by H. Ardoino, which I believe is about five francs 
in price. It is not illustrated, but the descriptions 
are easy to understand. 

There are in several parts of the Riviera bio- 
logical stations more or less private in character. 
There was a small one at Tamaris, near Toulon, 
which was established with the worthy object of 
giving facilities to poor students for examining the 
marine fauna, but it does not seem io have been 
much patronized—if it still exists. 

As a centre both for pleasure and biological 
investigations few places are more suitable in the 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Riviera than Nice. It is a fine city of about 
100,000 inhabitants, if we include the extensive 
suburbs. Here every taste can be gratified and 
every opportunity is available for long and 
interesting excursions for the lover of nature at all 
times of the year. The winter is ‘‘the season” 
for foreign visitors, commencing about October 
and lasting to the end of May and into the June 
following. April, May and June are the best 
months for the naturalist, though there is plenty to 
occupy him at all seasons. In winter, for the 
botanist, there are continuous successions of 
flowering plants in sheltered situations, as well as 
some species of land and freshwater shells for the 
student of malacology. The entomologist will 
find occupation up to Christmas and again 
towards the end of January, and in February 
forward. 

The winter's rest, however, for most wild living 
things, whether animal or vegetable, is very 
apparent during January, though many of the 
days in that month have a temperature and sunni- 
ness like those of an English May-time. On such 
days one sees in the flower-scented gardens with 
with sunny aspect plenty of the humming-bird 
hawk-moths, large dragon-flies, or an occasional 
locust which has ventured from its winter shelter. 
Hibernating Admiral butterflies (Vanessa atalanta) 
and an occasional Clouded Yellow (Colias edusa) also 
gladden English eyes. It is not until after carnival 
time, from which most events date at Nice, that 
one expects to find the flight of new butterflies to 
commence, which begins with Pieris daplidice, and 
the commoner whites, the latter first appearing 
about the middle of February. 

On the hill-sides of the lower ranges of the 
Maritime Alps that come down close to the sea 
near Nice there are many walks where one may 
see nature at its wildest, though so easy of access 
from where men’s artifice and luxury is nowhere 
more apparent. These rambles are facilitated by 
the aid of the numerous country omnibuses which 
run out of the city in various directions at wonder- 
fully cheap fares. By their aid much time and 
fatigue, are saved as one arrives at the foot of some 
mountain path where collecting or observation 
may at once commence. The South of France 
Railway, also, is a great boon to excursionists from 
Nice. It is a queer narrow-gauge line which winds 
about through mountain passes, over lovely valleys 
and along hill sides, through some of the most 
beautiful scenery in southern Europe. This line, 
having been constructed largely in view of 
military requirements, is very deliberate with 
regard to its speed and service of trains. They are 
not frequent and very slow. The country is so 
eminently suited, however, for the naturalist 
who travels by the line that he forgives all its 
imperfections in his thankfulness for being in 


273 


such delightful localities sérved by this little 
railway. 

Among the earliest plants one sees in bloom in 
winter, commencing in November, not counting the 
many stragglers from the previous autumn, is the 
little spotted arum (Arum italicum). Its greeny-white 
flowers, with many brown spots and streaks, are 
abundant nestling among its glaucous-green leaves, 
reminding one of inverted pitcher plants. It is a 
striking plant, the more so because so much in 
evidence when others are less common. It occurs 
nearly everywhere—on hedge banks, on waste places, 
and even on mountain sides up to considerable 
altitudes. Avum maculatum, so familiar to lovers of 
country lanes in England, grows immense leaves 
in the neighbourhood of Nice. A locality down by 
the river Var possesses some beds of these plants 
which are magnificent in foliage, both as regards 
size and markings. The leaves are in full beauty 
all through January and early February, though 
the flower-spikes are not then found. 

Leaf variation forms a most interesting subject 
for investigation in Southern France during winter. 
There are many strange varieties among plants 
familiar to English people, both as regards shape 
and colouration. Black markings often appear 
with considerable intensity on the upper sides of 
certain plants. This is especially notable on the 
lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficavia), which produces 
a handsome variety. The local form of dandelion 
is very peculiar, having deeply-indented leaves, 
with broad apex divided into two lobes. This is 
common on the Castle Hill at Nice. 

On mountain sides one recognises the fragrant 
scent of the wild rosemary, which is abundantly in 
flower throughout the winter from before Christmas 
to late in February. It affects the roughest rocky 
sites where there is hardly any soil to support its 
straggling roots. It is a cheerful shrub when in 
full bloom, reminding one of English cottage 
gardens in May-time. In sheltered gardens near 
the city, at Christmas, one sees the lavender bushes 
also covered with flower-spikes ready to burst 
into bloom just as soon as the nights get warm 
enough to retain the stored heat of the day’s 
sunshine. This shrub grows wild on the dry 
hill-sides, where it flowers much later than in 
the gardens. 

About the middle of January the first of the 
large purple anemones appear as a common garden 
weed, and on mountain sides. These later become 
abundant, as also a smaller mauve species, about 
twice the size of common white wood anemones. 
Many cultivated varieties of these plants are sold 
in the market in February. At the end of January, 
whilst shell-hunting with Colonel Beddholm, of 
Putney, on Mont Gros, above Villefranche and 
near the Corniche Road, I found some lovely blue 
crocuses growing wild among the rocks. 


274 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ARMATURE OF HELICOID LANDSHELLS AND NEW 
FORMS, OR VPLECEOPMEIS: 


By G. K. 


GuDE, F.Z.S. 


(Continued from page 246.) 


LECTOPYLIS smithiana (}) (figs. 38a-d). I also 
found two specimens in the Theobald collection 
of the British Museum, labelled Plectopylis brachy- 
plecta, which, in spite of some external resemblance 
to that species, presented sufficient differences to 
lead one to suspect that they were distinct, and on 
opening one of them I found that the difference in 
the armature confirmed this suspicion. In basing 
a new species upon them, I have much pleasure in 
dedicating it to Mr. Smith, whose permission to 
open the shell enabled me to investigate the 
matter. 
Plectopylis smithiana differs from P. brachyplecta in 
being darker and larger. The ribs are coarser and 


SS Si 
ION I 
SSS 


S we 
= 
= 


Fig. 38.—Plectopylis smithiana. 


the whorls more convex; the last whorl is not 
angulated above, and it widens more towards the 
aperture. The peristome is less thickened and 
more reflexed, and the ridge of the parietal callus 
less stout but more raised, while the umbilicus is 
wider and much more shallow. The horizontal 


(1) Plectopylis smithiana, n. sp. (figs. 38a-d).—Shell dextral, 
discoid, widely umbilicated, rufous brown, coarsely and 
regularly ribbed, with scarcely visible microscopic sculpture 
above, but strongly decussated with spiral lines | below, 
suture impressed. Whorls 6, convex, slowly increasing, the 
last rapidly widening towards the aperture, not angulated 
above, shortly descending in front. Aperture sub-triangular ; 
peristome light brown, a little thickened and reflexed, the 
Margins converging; parietal callus with a strongly raised 
flexuous ridge, separated from both margins of the peris- 
tome. Umbilicus very wide but shallow. Parietal wall, 
with an entering flexuous horizontal fold, united to the ridge 
at the aperture, and at one-third of the circumference from 
the aperture with one crescent-shaped vertical plate, which 
has two small denticles, one above and one below, on the 
anterior side. Palatal folds 6, the first and sixth thin and 
horizontal, the other four short, broad and oblique.—Major 
diameter, 27 millimetres; minor diameter, 21 millimetres ; 
axis, 10 millimetres.— Habitat, Attaram, Burma.—Type in 
the British Museum. 


parietal fold deflects more at the aperture and 
there is only one vertical plate (see fig. 38d), which 
is crescent-shaped, with the convex side towards 
the aperture; on its anterior side, in place of a 
second vertical plate as in P. brachyplecta, are 
found two elongated, oblique, converging denticles, 
one above and one below. The palatal armature 
is similar to that of P. brachyplecta. Fig. 38d, which 
shows the parietal wall, is from one of the specimens 
in the British Museum. Figs. 38a-c are drawn 
from a specimen, labelled Attaram, obligingly 
lent to me by Miss Linter, of Arragon Close, 
Twickenham, who informs me that she received 
it from Mr. Theobald. This was also labelled 
P. brachyplecta, but I have no hesitation in referring 
it to the new species. It measures—major diameter, 
26 millimetres; minor diameter, 21 millimetres; 
axis, 9 millimetres. 

Plectopylis plectostoma (figs. 39a-c) was first de- 
scribed by Mr. Benson in the “Journal of the 
Asiatic Society of Bengal,” v. (1836), p. 351; but 
from additional material received, which enabled 
him to examine the armature, he subsequently 
published an amended description (‘‘ Annals and 
Magazine of Natural History” (3), v. (1860), 
p. 247). The species appears to be of fairly 
wide distribution, for, in addition to the original 
locality, Darjeeling, Mr. G. Nevill (Handlist (1878), 
p- 71) records the following habitats: Burma— 
Bassein and Arakan; Assam — Sylhet, Khasia 
and Naga Hills; while Lieut.-Colonel Godwin- 
Austen mentions specimens from the Dafla Hills, 
in Assam. The shell has been figured in Reeve’s 
‘‘Conchologia Iconica,” t. 129, f. 782 (1852), in 
Martini und Chemnitz’s. ‘‘ Conchylien Cabinet,” 
2nd ed. i., t. 64, ff. 19-21 (1853), and in Hanley and 
Theobald’s ‘‘ Conchologia Indica,”’ t. 13, f. 2 (1870). 
The armature was figured by Lieut.-Colonel Godwin- 
Austen in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological 


Fig. 39.—Plectopylis plectostoma. 


Society,” 1874, t. 73, f. 2. After looking over a 
number of shells in various collections, I found that 
two different forms, one with and one without a 
horizontal fold given off from the parietal vertical 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


plate, were inclnded under this name, and it became 
therefore necessary to decide which of the two 
conformed to Mr. Benson’s type, the specimens of 
which I knew to be in the Museum at Cambridge. 
Through the kindness of Mr. Harmer I have now 
been able to examine the type specimens, and I am 
pleased to have an opportunity of figuring one of 
them. Although Mr. Benson’s reference to the 
armature in his amended description, ‘‘lamina 1 
parietali verticali, simplici, lamellis nullis munita,” 
inclined me to believe that the form without the 
horizontal fold was the true P. fplectostoma, the 
examination of Mr. Benson's type shells does not 
bear out this view. All the shells of the Benson 
collection labelled ‘‘ Darjeeling,’ which are without 
doubt: Mr. Benson's types of this species, belong to 
the form with the horizontal fold, and this form 
must fherefore be taken as the true P. plectostoma. 
Mr. Fulton obligingly sent me twenty-five specimens 
of each form for inspection, which, in addition to 
the specimens in my own and other collections, have 
enabled me to obtain a fairly accurate idea as to 
the constancy of both forms, the differences of 
which will be discussed further on. Plectopylis 
plectostoma is sinistral, disk-shaped, more or less 
dark corneous brown, opaque, with a conical spire, 
deeply but somewhat narrowly umbilicated ; it is 
composed of seven narrow, closely and regularly 
coiled whorls, which increase slowly and are a 
little rounded above and below; the last whorl 
scarcely widens near the aperture and shortly 
descends in front. The shell is _ radiately 
plicate and granulated by coarse spiral sculpture 
above, and decussated below, while the cuticle 
is thick and distinctly raised into distant 
transverse plaits. Five lines of scatteved hairs, 
placed on raised ridges pass round the whole 
length of the body-whorl, the first on the 
periphery, the second a little below it, the third, 
fourth, and fifth wider apart, the last being close 
to the umbilical angulation. The aperture is 
broadly ear-shaped; the peristome is whitish or 
rufous, thickened and reflexed, the upper margin 
widely arcuate; the raised ridge of the parietal 
callus is scarcely curved, and not perceptibly 
separated from the margins of the peristome. The 
parietal armature consists of a strong vertical 
plate which gives off anteriorly a strong, obliquely 
ascending support below and a horizontal fold 
above, slightly notched at the junction; on the 
posterior side of the plate are found two minute 
denticles, one near the upper and one near the 
lower extremity. A single, very short, free hori- 
zontal fold is found below the plate. The palatal 
armature consists of, first, a thin, short, horizontal 
fold close to the suture; secondly, a thin but 
longer and broader fold opposite the upper ex- 
tremity of the vertical parietal plate, slightly 
indented in the middle, with the posterior ex- 


275 


tremity shortly reflected at an angle of 100°; 
thirdly, a similar‘'shortly reflected horizontal fold, 
notched in the middle, and then suddenly deflected 
vertically; fourthly, a short, thin, broad fold, 
which has posteriorly to it an almost vertically 
deflected short broad fold; fifthly, a similar short 
horizontal fold, which has also posteriorly a short, 
broad, descending fold, a little more oblique than 
the previous one; and sixthly, a very short and 
narrow horizontal fold near the lower suture, 
situate below the space between the two preceding 
series. Fig. 39a is from one of the type speci- 
mens; it measures, major diameter, 9 millimetres ; 
minor diameter, 8 millimetres; axis, 5 millimetres. 
Two other of these specimens measure 8'5 
millimetres, and one 8 millimetres in diameter. 
Fig. 39), showing the parietal wall with its 
armature by itself, and fig. 39¢, showing the 
inside of the outer wall with its palatal folds, 
are from a specimen in my _ collection, 
from the Khasia Hills; it measures — major 
diameter, 8°5 millimetres; minor diameter, 7°25 
millimetres; axis, 4°5 millimetres. The specimens 
of this form submitted to me by Mr. Fulton, all 
from the Khasia Hills, range from 8 to 9 milli- 


Sa = 

Hee 
. ah LI 
: I pease cee Meigs 


ae. 
qe 


Fig. 40.—Plectopylis plectostoma var. tricarinata. 


metres in diameter. An immature specimen in my 
collection has the armature complete, as in the 
full-grown specimens, but the palatal folds are a 
little shorter; traces of the previous palatal folds, 
one quarter of a whorl further back, can distinctly 
be seen through the shell-wall. 

Plectopylis plectostoma var. tricavinata (1) (figs. 40a 
and }). A tablet in the McAndrew collection con- 
tains five specimens, labelled ‘‘ Plectopylis plectostoma, 
Bengal, Benson coll.,"’ two of which are distinct 
from the type and appear to be worthy of a varietal 
name. Besides being larger and more conical than 
the type, they are also distinctly keeled at the 
periphery and have three distinct raised ridges on 
the upper side, revolving as far as the fourth 
whori. I name this form Plectopylis plectostoma var. 
tricavinata. The entire shell is shown, enlarged, 
in fig. 40a, while a portion of the last whorl, more 
enlarged, is shown in fig. 4ob. The armature is 
identical with that of the type. 

(‘) Plectopylis plectostoma var. tricarinata, n. var. (figs. 40a 
and 0), differs from the type in being larger, in having the 
periphery acutely keeled, and in having three raised ridges 
between the periphery and the suture, revolving as far as 
the fourth whorl.—Major diameter, 10 millimetres; minor 
diameter, 9 millimetres; axis, 6 millimetres.—Habitat, Bengal. 


—Type in the McAndrew collection of the University 
Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. 


276 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Plectopylis affinis (+) (figs: 414-4), from the Khasia 
Hills, has hitherto been confused with Plectopylis 
plectostoma, but it differs in being larger and much 
paler in colour, in having four instead of five rows 
of hairs, which are not placed on raised ridges as in 


Pig. 41.—Pleciopylis affints. 


that species; the cuticle is much thinner and not 
plaited, while the spiral sculpture is less coarse 
above and scarcely perceptible below, where the 
shell is also more shining than in P. flectostoma. 
The shell is translucent and the armature is 
distinctly visible through its wall, while the 
aperture is more narrowed laterally and the upper 
margin of the peristome is less arcuate, being a 
little inflected. The umbilicus is also wider and 
scarcely angulated, while the base is much mcre 
flattened. The ridge of the parietal callus is 
more raised and more curved. The parietal 
armature consists of a vertical plate with 
a very short support anteriorly at the upper and 
lower extremities, but without the horizontal fold 
above as in P. flectostoma. The two denticles on 
the posterior side are larger and more elongated, 
and below the vertical plate are two short, thin, 
horizontal folds in a line with each other (see 
fig. 41d, which shows the parietal wall by itself; 
and fig. 41c, which shows both armatures from the 


() Plectopylis affinis, n. sp. (gs. 41a-d)—Shell sinistral, 
somewhat widely umbilicated, disk-shaped, pale yellowish 
corneous, translucent, radiately plicate, decussated by spiral 
lines above, smoother and shining below. Whorls 7, nar- 
Tow, increasing slowly, the last widening towards the 
aperture, and descending a little in front, rounded above, 
flattened below; four lines of soit pilose hairs pass round 
the whole length of the body-whorl, the first on the angulated 
periphery, the second a little below it, the third midway 
between the second and fourth, which is near the umbilicus. 
Aperture ear-shaped, elongated vertically; peristome white, 
thickened and reflexed, upper margin a litle depressed : the 
raised jiexuous ridge on the parietal callusis separated from the 
margins by a slight notch. Umbilicus deep and moderately 
wide. The parietal armature consists of a vertical plate with 
two short supports anteriorly, one above and one below, 
and two elongated denticles posteriorly, one above and one 
below ; two free, short, horizontal folds in a line occur below 
the vertical plate. The palatal armature is composed of six 
folds, the first and sixth short, thin and horizontal, the 
others longer and broader; the second a little indented in 
the middle, with the posterior termination raised obliquely ; 
the third is notched in the middle, and deflects obliquely 
posteriorly ; the fourth and fifth are in two series separated 
by a short space, the anterior portion straight and hori- 
zontal, the posterior portion crescent-shaped and obliquely 
descending.— Major diameter, to millimetres ; minor diameter, 
g millimetres; axis, 5°5 millimetres——Habitat, Khasia Hills, 
Assam.—Tpype in my collection. 


posterior side). The palatal armature is similar to 
that of P. plectostoma, but the posterior portions of 
the third, fourth and fifth folds, instead of being 
straight and almost vertical, are crescent-shaped 
and oblique (see fig. 414, which shows the palatal 
folds as they appear through the shell-wall); an 
additional semi-circular fold, posterior to but a 
little above the fifth fold, occurs in this specimen; 
this, however, I have not observed in any of the 
other specimens. Fig 414 shows the entire shell 
enlarged. My specimens were obtained from Mr. 
Fulton some years ago; the twenty-five further 
specimens from the same locality, sent to me for 
inspection by him, range from 9 to 11 millimetres in 
diameter. Iwo immature specimens in my collec- 
tion are composed of five and a-half whorls; one of 
these has the immature barriers complete, but the 
palatal folds are very short and the posterior oblique 
portions of the fourth and fifth folds are almost 
straight instead of crescent-shaped; externally a 
slight trace of previous folds can be discerned ; in 
the other specimen the last immature folds are 
similar to those of the first specimen, but the 
remains of a previous set is in a less advanced 
stage of disintegration. 


(To be continued.) 


OLDHAVEN Beps.—Mr. William Whitaker first 
proposed, in 1866, the name of Oldhaven (and 
Blackheath) Beds for those singular accumulations 
of pebble-beds which occur between the London 
clay and the Woolwich and Reading beds, and 
which had previously been classed by Professor 
Prestwich as the basement-bed of the London 
clay. The pebble-beds are easily recognized 
in consequence of the well-worn condition in 
which the pebbles are left after deposition. Asan 
explanation of the fact that there is rarely any- 
thing like a sub-angular flint to be seen in these 
beds, ‘‘ one is led to infer that they must have been 
deposited some way off the shore, as a bank to 
which no flints could get until after having been 
long exposed to wearing action.” This method of 
their origin has been repeated in various books on 
the subject, but it does not seem to me that it 
altogether satisfactorily accounts for the presence 
of vegetable remains that are occasionally found in 
the mass of pebbles. Last year I sawa layer of 
about six inches of peaty matter intercalated 
between identical pebble-beds, all resting upon 
Woolwich beds. I further observed Melania in- 
guinata and Cyrena flumenalis, in a smaller pit at 
Charlton, just east of the road leading from Lower 
Road up to Charlton Church. The oscillations 
of surface which Mr. Whitaker thinks may have 
marked the period I would suggest may in this 
case have actually brought the sea-bottom above 
the sea-level, and caused a growth of vegetation 
that was afterwards thrown down by the incoming 
sea on the subsidence of the area——Edward A. 
Martin, 69, Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


277 


THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 


1 is only by a careful and systematic record of 

trustworthy observations that we may expect 
to unravel the mystery of bird migration. Most 
writers on the subject have hitherto depended upon 
desultory and scattered records with which to found 
theories ; some of them, though fantastic enough to 
please the most ardent lover of the wonderful, no lon- 
ger need occupy the attention of the serious student of 
nature. Asis well known, the British Association for 
the Advancement of Science some time ago appointed 
a committee to collect records from lighthouses 
and lightships around our coasts. With the 
approval of the Board of Trade a systematic 
record of bird visitants to outlying lights during 
migration times has been collected by the keepers 
of lighthouses and lightships. The birds, attracted 
like moths to the lights, often fall stunned or dead 
in great numbers round the lanterns. These are 
picked up by theattendants and noted, identification 
being secured by cutting off one of the wings and 
attaching it to the record. At some lights in the 
main line of migration on still dark nights multitudes 
of birds are killed in this manner, thus giving ample 
material for studying the direction of flight, the 
different species passing and their estimated 
numbers. 

We have been favoured by the Honorary Secretary 
to the Committee above referred to (Mr. John 
Cordeaux) with a report submitted to the meeting 
of the British Association at Liverpool last autumn. 
It consists of an important digest of the observa- 
tions made from 1880 to 1887. This Committee 
consists of Professor Newton (Chairman), Mr. 
John Cordeaux (Secretary), Mr. John A. Harvie- 
Brown, Mr. R. M. Barrington, Mr. W. Eagle 
Clarke and the Rev. E. P. Knubley. As many of 
our readers are interested in this subject, we have 
pleasure in quoting the leading conclusions to which 
the Committee have arrived. These extracts will 
be found the more seasonable as the spring migra- 
tion will shortly be in full flow. 


‘““As has been before stated at meetings of the 
Association, this Digest is the work of one of 
their number, and the remaining members of the 
Committee have to record their deep sense of the 
obligation under which they lie to Mr. William 
Eagle Clarke, of the Science and Art Museum, 
Edinburgh, for the assiduity with which he has so 
long laboured on the enormous task he undertook, 
and to congratulate him on the success with which 
he has overcome the countless difficulties it 


PLESented a wren see 
“Tt cannot be doubted that henceforth, as 
regards the British Islands, there is now 


established a firm basis on which may rest a 
sound and proper conception of many of the 
phenomena of British migration, for this Digest 
contains a plain statement of ascertained facts, and 
is wholly free from theory or speculation of any 


kind. Thus it will be found to differ from almost 
everything that has hitherto been published on the 
subject. In saying this much your Committee 
would, however, guard themselves from the 
inference that the business is exhausted: on the 
contrary, a very great deal more is yet to be 
learned from a further examination of the obser- 
vations which have been collected at the light- 
houses and lightships, while the whole subject of 
inland migration is untouched. Whether it will be 
possible for the Committee to proceed further 
must entirely depend on the action of the Associ- 
ation; but they may say that Mr. Clarke, so far 
from being deterred by the magnitude of the task 
with which he had so successfully grappled, is 
willing to work out the details of migration for 
each of the species to which the observations 
refer, and has even already begun to do so; and it 
is to be hoped that he will receive some encourage- 
ment to continue such useful work. And the 
Committee may remark that the very considerable 
funds that private generosity has placed at their 
service are now exhausted. 

“Though on the present occasion the thanks of 
the Committee are so certainly due to Mr. Clarke, 
they feel that, while presenting what may be their 
final report, they must again acknowledge their 
indebtedness to all who have helped them in 
prosecuting their inquiries; first, to the Master 
and Elder Brethren of the Trinity House, the 
Commissioners of Northern Lights, and the Com- 
missioners of Irish Lights; but more especially to 
the men of the several lighthouses and lightships, 
without whose cheerful and intelligent co-operation 
nothing could have been done.” 

Following this comes Mr. Clarke’s conclusions : 


‘‘In presenting this Digest of the results 
obtained concerning the migration of birds, as 
observed at lighthouses and lightships around 
the coasts of the British Islands, during the years 
1880-1887 inclusive, to the Committee appointed 
by the British Association for the investigation 
of that subject, I beg to offer an explanation 
regarding the lapse of time that has taken place 
between my appointment and the completion of the 
work. Ina word, this has been entirely due to the 
magnitude of the undertaking. 

‘‘T was instructed to base the Digest upon an 
examination de novo of the whole of the information 
furnished to the Committee during the eight 
years of its active existence. Thus the whole of 
the data required to be reduced to order before it 
was available for the purposes of the Digest. 
Moreover, at the outset there presented itself for 
consideration an extremely perplexing problem, 
namely: how to treat or arrange such a vast 
array of facts on a systematic plan which would 
render them comprehensive and at the same time 
suited to the inquiry in all its varied aspects. It 
was not until a number of abortive attempts had 
been embarked upon that a plan was devised which 
met the very special requirements of the case. 
The scheme finally adopted took the form of a 
schedule. This was designed to show graphically, 
for each species during each month, (1) on what 
day ; (2) coast; (3) station; (4) in what numbers ; 
and (5) whether during the day or night the 
particular species was observed during the particular 
month and year. It is needless to remark that 


278 


such a systematic tabulation of at least one 
hundred thousand records, culled from several 
thousands of forms filled in by the light-keepers, 
in each of which species were numerous and the 
dates wide ranging, proved to be both a long and 
laborious task. 

‘The results now presented are, for the first time, 
based upon the examination of the whole of the 
information communicated to the Committee for 
all the coasts: a most necessary condition, for from 
such a complete and comprehensive examination 
alone could it be at all possible to obtain results 
worthy of the inquiry, and an accurate knowledge 
of the nature of the various phenomena associated 
with the migration of British and Irish birds. 
Indeed, it is now in our power to declare that it is 
quite impossible at certain seasons to distinguish 
between the widely different immigratory and 
emigratory Movements without due examination 
and consideration of the whole of the observations, 
a fact the non-realization of which has been fruitful 
of much misconception and of many misleading 
statements in the past. 

“Tt is manifestly impossible to conduct an in- 
quiry into the migration of birds over the entire 
British area, or even of the smallest section of it, 
under other than imperfect conditions; a hundred 
circumstances are against such a desirable consum- 
mation. Evenif a party of trained ornithologists 
were placed at each station, it would fail to secure 
anything like perfect results. : 

“The object of the inquiry was to obtain full 
and trustworthy information in connection with the 
migratory movements of birds as observed on our 
coasts, and not to solve problems connected with 
the causes of the phenomena, the evolution of -the 
migratory instinct, or other purely theoretical 
aspects of the general subject. 

“* As regards the importance of this investigation, 
it must be borne in mind that the observers were 
most favourably stationed for witnessing migration 
in its various phases, and that such a voluminous 
and complete set of observations has never been 
amassed at any previous period in the history of 
the study of bird-migration. Its special nature 
can only be fully appreciated when it is realized 
that in order to study the phenomena of bird- 
migration in the British Islands it is necessary 
that the data upon which any deductions may be 
satisfactorily or safely founded should be based 
upon observations taken synchronously at stations 
encircling the entire coasts. This cardinal and 
most important condition has been attempted 
and accomplished for the first time, either in this 
or any other country, through the labours of the 
Committee. 

““The meteorological aspect of the subject has 
received very careful attention, and with interesting 
and important results. In connection with this 
portion of the work, the ‘ Daily Weather Reports ’ 
issued by the Meteorological Office have been 
consulted and correlated with the data relating to 
the migratory movements for each year of the 
inquiry. 

“Finally, I may state that the results now 
communicated are based absolutely upon the 
records obtained by the Committee; and also 
that I have approached the subject with an open 
mind and without preconceived ideas. I have 
considered this not the place for theory, but for the 
establishment of facts, and for deductions drawn 
from a direct study of the observations placed in 
my hands. 

“The migration of birds as observed in the 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


British Islands is a very complex phenomenon ; 
more so, perhaps, than in any other region of the 
globe. This is readily accounted for. 

First, the geographical position of the British 
Islands is eminently favourable. Placed as our 
Isles are, between South-western Europe and the 
Scandinavian peninsula, Iceland and Greenland, 
they lie directly in the course of the legions of 
migratory birds which annually make a double 
journey between their northern summer and their 
southern winter quarters. For these birds of 
passage our shores form not only a main and much- 
accustomed highway, but afford convenient resting- 
quarters. 

“Secondly, our islands havea vast bird-population 
of their own, and the majority of these birds 
belong to purely migratory species. Some of them 
are either summer visitors from the southern 
regions or winter visitors from Continental Europe, 
Iceland, etc. 

“Thirdly, many individuals of species which 
are sedentary in our islands are strictly migra- 
tory. This is especially the case in the more 
northern and elevated portions of the British 
area: hence these species are said to be ‘partial 
migrants.’ 

“Finally, our remarkably variable climate is a 
constant element of disturbance, causing much 
migration within the British area itself and in- 
termigration with the islands off our western 
coasts, especially with Ireland. This occurs during 
the winter months, and hence these migrations 
will be alluded to in this report as ‘ winter 
movements.’ 

‘‘The above important considerations and 
influences result not only in much migration of a 
varied nature being witnessed on our shores, but 
often, through a combination of meteorological 
conditions, in more than one movement being 
observed in progress simultaneously, adding much 
further intricacy to an already complicated series 
of phenomena. 

“Having thus shortly described the British 
Islands as a highway for and as a source of migra- 
tion, having mentioned the nature of the various 
movements observed on our coasts, and having 
alluded to the influence exerted by climatic 
conditions upon the bird-population of our area, I 
may now proceed to discuss the main results 
obtained through the inquiry under the following 
sections: (1) Geographical, (2) Seasonal and (3) 
Meteorological.” 

(To be continued.) 


MARINE NATURAL History.—Like Dr. Tatham 
(ante p. 255), I notice with regret the absence from 
SciENncE-Gossir of notes on Marine Biology. Some 
years ago, as opportunity occurred, I did a little 
work in it myself, and always found it most fascina- 
ting and productive of fresh objects for examination. 
I should be glad, now my facilities are lessened, to 
know what others may have to relate of their ex- 
periences. Surely there must be many readers of 
Science-Gossip dwelling at the sea-side who could 
gratify their less fortunate town brethren with an 
account of their finds. Even short notes are 
interesting and useful, and afe certain to be 
welcomed by the Editor, for has he not frequently 
told us that it is just this section of his paper— 
which ought to be so easily and fully supplied— 
that he has difficulty in filling.— Jas. Burton, 9, 
Agamemnon Read, West Hampstead. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 279 


Short Studies in Physical Science. Mineralogy, 
Chemistry and Physics. By VAauGHAN CORNISH, 
M.Sc. 230 pp. 8vo; illustrated. (London: 
Sampson Low, Marston and Company, Limited, 
1897.) Price 5s. 

There are sixteen chapters in this book, three 


subject. We reproduce the latter of these illustra- 
tions, by permission of the publishers, to show 
the high tone of the work and its production. 
We can cordially recommend the book, especially 
to those students who know something of the 
subjects treated by Mr. Cornish in its pages. 


A Handbook to the Order Lepidoptera. By W. F. 
Kirpy, F.L.S., F.E.S. Vol. 3, Part i. Butterflies 
concluded—Hesperiide, Moths. 308 pages 8vo, 
illustrated by 27 Coloured Plates and numerous 
figures in the letterpress. (London: W. H. Allen 
and Co., Limited, 1897.) Price 6s. 

This is the third of the proposed five volumes on 
Lepidoptera, to be included in ‘‘ Allen’s Naturalists’ 
Library,” the former two being noticed in this 


RONTGEN RAy PHOTOGRAPH OF ENGLISH GRASS-SNAKE, 
(From Cornish’s “ Short Studies in Physical Science.) 


being devoted to mineralogy, six to chemistry, and 
seven to physics. Some have appeared already in 
serial literature, but for the most part they are 
new. Some of the chapters in chemistry are more 
or less historical, dealing with Elements and 
Atoms and Chemical Classification. In Chapter v. 
Menaeléeff's System is discussed. The illustration 
to the chapter is a portrait of that eminent Russian 
chemist. Another is a reproduction of an X ray 
photograph, by Newton and Co., of Fleet Street, of 
an English grass-snake, as an example of pictures 
to be taken by the agency of Réntgen ray 
photography, Chapter xiv. dealing with the 


magazine (N.S., vol. i., p. 256; vol. iil., p. 45). 
The present one contains the last family of the 
butterflies—Hesperiide, and the first twenty-six 
families of Moths. Nomenclature again has 
received some additions and alterations in this 
book, but may be followed by the synonymic 
references at the commencement of the description 
of each species referred to. For instance, Calli- 
morpha hera gives way to Hubner’s Euflagia and 
quadvipunctaria (Poda, Mus. Grec., p. 89, 1761). 
Linnzus named this species /eva in 1767, so Poda's 
other name has priority. The handsome coloured 
plates in this volume make a brave show. 


280 


Ue MS IC eG ules 22a : 
GS eal 


vA NE 
tran arr UIE 3p ner CM eS 


Dr. ARTHUR AUWERS, the Berlin Astronomer, has 
been awarded a gold medal by the German Emperor. 

THe German Anthropological Society have 
elected Dr. Rudolf Virchow as President for the 
year 1897. 

M. GaiLtot has been appointed sub-director of 
the Paris Observatory in place of M. Loewy who 
is now director. 

At the Botanic Gardens, Buitenzorg, Java, a 
new research laboratory is to be erected. The 
Government of Holland have contributed $6,000 
towards the expenses. 

Dr. RupotF Mewes has undertaken the direc- 
tion of a German Antarctic meteorological station, 
which is to be established in Victoria Land. It 
will be in connection with the German South Polar 
expedition. 

Lapy PREsTWIcH is collecting material for a 
biography of the late Sir Joseph Prestwich, and 
will be glad if friends will forward to her any 
letters they may possess. They will be at once 
copied and carefully returned. 

Sir RoBErRT BAtt has been nominated as the new 
President of the Royal Astronomical Society. At 
their meeting of February 12th a gold medal was 
awarded to Professor Barnard for his numerous 
contributions to Astronomy. 

WE regret to have to record the death of Sir 
Spencer Wells, who passed away early in 
February. He was President of the Royal College 
of Surgeons from 1882-83, and did good service 
both to medical science and humanity. 


Tue Council of the Royal Society have invited 
Professor C. S. Sherrington, F.R.S., Professor of 
Physiology in University College, Liverpool, to 
deliver the Croonian Lecture for this year on April 
tst. The subject will be ‘‘ The Spinal Cord and 
Reflex Actions.” 

PROFESSOR LIPPMANN has been awarded the 
Progress medal of the Royal Photographic Society 
for his discovery of the process of producing photo- 
graphs in natural colours by the interference method. 
Since the establishment of the Society in 1878 only 
ten medals have been awarded. 


On February 16th the Marquis of Salisbury 
received at the Foreign Office a deputation of 
representatives of science, who asked the Govern- 
ment to establish a national physical laboratory at 
a cost of £30,000 for buildings and £5,000 a year 
for maintenance. Lord Lister introduced the 
deputation, as President of the British Association. 

In ‘“‘Nature” for February 18th there is an 
article by Mrs. G. C. Frankland on Dr. Yersin’s 
discovery of the plague virus and its anti-toxin. 
That the most remarkable therapeutic value 
attaches to the anti-plague serum as now elaborated 
at the Institut Pasteur, in Paris, is shown by the 
success which has recently followed its application 
in undoubted cases of plague at Amoy. Dr. Yersin 
is now Director of a Pasteur Institute at Nha- 
Trang, in Annam. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


THE “Bulletin” of the University of Wisconsin 
for 1897 is a carefully prepared work, entitled 
‘‘Analytic Keys to the Genera and Species of 
North American Mosses,” by Charles Reid Barnes, 
Professor of Botany, revised and extended by 
Fred De Forest Heald. A large number of new 
Aiea have been added to the already existing 
ists. 

DurinG the visit of the President of the French 
Republic to the Pasteur Institute on February roth, 
Dr. Roux was able to show him his experiments 
in the cultivation of the plague microbe. Dr. Roux 
stated that the microbe is easily destroyed by 
antiseptics and by a temperature of 140 degrees. 
He added, however, that this bacillus retains its 
vitality in the soil and to this is due the epidemics 
of the eastern countries. 

WE are asked to bring before the notice of our 
readers a work shortly to be published by Messrs. 
Taylor Bros., Leeds, on ‘‘ Wild Bird Protection 
and Nesting Boxes,” by John B. B. Masefield. 
The work will contain, amongst other items of 
useful information, ‘‘ A full list of the Orders made 
under the Wild Birds Protection Acts on the. 
application of County Councils, with the names of 
the species protected.”” This will be very useful to 
collecting ornithologists. 


Mr. E. WHEELER, of Clifton, Bristol, sends the 
following cutting from ‘‘ Pearson’s Weekly ” as an 
instance of the ‘‘ schoolmaster abroad” as far as 
natural history is concerned. Imagine a caterpillar 
depositing eggs! ‘‘The female of one species of 
caterpillar tears off the fur from the extremity of 
her abdomen to make a soft bed for her eggs and 
to preserve them from the cold. Yet she never 
sees her young, for after she has accomplished the 
task of laying the eggs the caterpillar invariably 
dies.” 

Mr. Cuartes G. Barrett, F.E.S., records in 
the ‘‘Irish Naturalist’ the capture, by Mr. W. F. 
de V. Kane, of several specimens of Platyptilia 
tessevadactylus, L. (Fischeriz), a ‘‘plume” moth not 
previously known to occur within the limits of the 
United Kingdom. The specimens were taken by 
Mr. Kane and the Hon. R. E. Dillon near 
Clonbrock and elsewhere in the County of Galway. 
The moth is much like Platyptilia gonodactylus, the 
species found among Tussilago farfara, but less than 
one-half its size. 

THE Geological Society will award its medals 
and funds for this year as follows: the Wollaston 
Medal to Mr. W. H. Hudleston; the Murchiscn 
Medal and part of the Fund to Mr. Horace B. 
Woodward ; the Lyell Medal and part of the Fund 
to Dr. G. J. Hinde; the Bigsby Medal to Mr. 
Clement Reid ; the proceeds of the Wollaston Fund 
to Mr. F. A. Bather ; the balance of the proceeds of 
the Murchison Fund to Mr. S. S. Buckman; and 
the balance of the proceeds of the Lyell Fund to 
Mr. W. J. Lewis Abbot and Mr. J. Lomas. 


Tue Council of the Royal Meteorological Society 
have arranged to hold, in commemoration of the 
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, at the Institution of 
Civil Engineers, Great George Street, Westminster, 
from March 16th to 19th, an exhibition of the 
meteorological instruments in use from 1837 to 1897, 
and of diagrams and photographs illustrating them. 
The Council will be pleased to receive, not later 
than March rst, lists of articles contributors are 
willing to exhibit and an estimate of the space 
required. Address, the Assistant Secretary, 22, 
Great George Street, S.W. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


_ ASTRONOMY, 
FONG 


CONDUCTED BY FRANK C, DENNETT. 
Position at Noon. 
R.A. 


Rises Sets. 
March. hm. hm. him. Dec. 
Sun Pe Sheesh OGUaMoee Si5LPilelecs 23eLy iene 14a dOuioe 
18... 6.9 . 6.8 seo ey bus ele LE 
28 ... 5.46 ws 6.24 OZONE UILeaNe 
Rises Souths. Sets. 
Moon ... 8... 7.36aM. ... 3.40P.M. ... 12.0 p.m. 
Lobes) Or) Pils s-ok2.8 .- 5.38a.mM. 
28... 4.7 a.m. ... 8.38a.m. ... 1.20 p.m. 
Position at Noon. 
Souths Semi 1A. 
h.m. Diameter, hm. Dec. 
Mercury... 8 ... 10.59 a.m BG coo PRU teen, HO SS) 
18 11,22 Ae TE 23 ORAL 
28 ... 11.50 asian 5 eLOG"ets, On ty 
Venus ... 8... 2.52p.m. ...15'8 meet Li50necs) LO (QING 
18 2.39 seg G ass 2.24 ... 19° 36! 
28 =... 2.18 «20 6 apo Ph oo LAD 1? 
MAYS ieee Ole sate 0:27 coo Sie) eS BAe 5chASUN 
M3) cco OG) coo HUG an Gea occ BY 
28... 5.48 BUES 6.14 ... 25° 34! 
Jupiter ... 18 ... 10.32 20" 3 10.20 ... 11° 51/N. 
Saturn ...18 ... 4.8 a.m 8" 1 15.56 18° 9/ S. 
Uranus ... 18 ... 3.59 fey NG 15.47 19° 42) S 
Nepruner 18) 205-21 p.my 142 ane eKY/ 21° 30/N 
Moon’s PHASES. 
hm. hm. 
New ... Mar. 3 ... 11.56 a.m. ist Oy. ... Mar. 11... 3.28 p.m. 
Full... ,, 18... 9.28 p.m. 3rd Or. ... 4, 25...12,0 a.m. 


Sun.—Spots of considerable size are showing 
themselves at short intervals. Early in January a 
large spot visible to the naked eye crossed the disc. 
A large spot was also visible early in February. 


MERCorRY is a morning star, forming a triangle 
with 8 and y Capricorni at the commencement of 
the month, and travelling through Pisces into 
Aries. Never well situated for observation. It 
rises 37m. before the sun on March rst. 


VENUS is a magnificent evening star, attaining 
its greatest brilliancy on the evening of the 23rd. 
Its spots are difficult owing to its brightness. 
It sets after. 10.15 p.m. all the month. 


Mars is still decreasing in apparent diameter, 
but is still in good position. At the beginning of 
the month it is a little south of 8 Tauri, 2nd- 
magnitude, and on the 27th north of 7 and uw Tauri. 
It sets about 3.19 a.m. on the rst, and about 2.15 
at the end of the month. 


JuPireR is in splendid position all night, in 
Leo,- retrograding from just north of the 4th- 
magnitude p to a few degrees east of Regulus, a 
Leonis. 

SaTuRN does not rise until near midnight 
throughout the month, away to the south-east. It 
is situated a little north-west of B Scorpii. 


Uranus is nearly close to the 4th-magnitude, A 
Libre, a little west of 8 Scorpii. 


NEPTUNE is in Taurus, almost on a line drawn 
from 4th-magnitude : to 3rd-magnitude ¢ Tauri, 
about one-fourth of the distance from .. 

METEoRS may be looked for on March rst, 2nd 
and 4th. 

THE great sunspot of January last, presenting an 
apparent diameter of about 85”, must have really 
had a length of something very like 74,000 miles. 


281 


VARIABLE STARS in good position during 

March are :— ’ 

R.A. Magnitude, 

him. Dec. Maz. Mim, Period. 
R Hydre ......... 222 22. 36'S. 9 4°0 1r‘o ©. 4480 days. 
T Ursz Majoris 12.30 60° 12'N. 65 <13'0 256'0 days. 
R Virginis......... 12.31 PF 42)N. 65 10°7. 145'8 days. 
a Ursee Majoris 10.56 62° 24’N. 1°5* 33 days. 


* The variation is in colour from yellowish-white to red. 
The mean period given is according to Weber. 
Attention should also be given to the principal 
stars in Corvus, a compact constellation south of 
Virgo. Ordinarily the brightest star of a con- 
stellation is marked a. The present order of 
brightness is usually y, 5, B, €, 7, a, but variations 

are frequently used. 

THE ROTATION OF VENUs.—At this time, whilst 
the planet is so well placed for observation, it is 
interesting to read the following extract from a 
communication: on ‘‘The Work of the Manora 
Observatory in 1896,’ contributed to ‘‘The 
English Mechanic”’ by its director. ‘‘ Venus was 
observed seventeen times (14 hours) and a dozen 
drawings made, which confirmed her quick rota- 
tion.” This is in confirmation of our own 
observations in February, 1881, when sensible 
movements of spots were observed from east to 
west, such as quite disposed of the idea that the 
planet revolved on its axis in 225 days, as 
some observers have supposed. Herr Leo Brenner 
has a good instrument, keen eye and fine situation 
for his work. 

Minor PLAaNETS.—During the year 1896 it is 
believed that no less than twenty of these little 
bodies were discovered, including three on Decem- 
ber 31st, found by M. Charlois, of Nice. The 
total number known is 429. 


‘“THE ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL,’’ so long and 
ably conducted by the late Dr. Gould, will in 
future be edited by Dr. S. C. Chandler, aided by 
Professors Asaph Hall and Lewis Boss. 


Mr. THomMAs Gwyn EL Ger, the director of the 
Lunar Section of the British Astronomical Asso- 
ciation, has, we regret to say, passed away at the 
age of fifty-nine years. Hehas been a Fellow of the 
Royal Astronomical Society since 1871, and has long 
been known as a busy worker. In 1895 Messrs. Geo. 
Philip and Son published his work, ‘‘ The Moon: 
a full description, and map of its principal physical 
features,’ perhaps about the best that the seleno- 
graphical student can have. The map is to the 
scale of eighteen inches to the moon’s diameter. 
He is one who will be missed. 


Dr. G. D. E. WEYER, Professor of Mathematics 
and Astronomy to the University of Kiel, has also 
died. 

METEOR OF NOVEMBER 29TH.—I was out on 
the night of November 29th last, and saw the 
brilliant meteor. The time was a few minutes 
after 9 o’clock. It seemed to me to be about the size 
of a cricket-ball when I first sawit. It appeared to 
break into three parts, two following in succession 
behind the first, and the colour was a brilliant 
steely blue. It was travelling in a westerly direc- 
tion, and appeared to be at an angle of 70° 
with the horizon. It was mentioned in one of our 
local papers as having been seen by three corres- 
pondents: one at Sandgate, one at Putney and 
one at Hampstead. One of them compared it to 
a rocket, and another to a ball of lurid fire. I did 
not see its actual disappearance, as it was hid from 
my view by a building.—Thomas Edwards, Clifton- 
ville House, Equity Road, Narborough Road, Leicester ; 
January 29th, 1897. 


4 


\% 


| 


PARASITE OF THE ToRTOISE.—Referring to Mr. 
S. Howarth’s remarks respecting the parasite of 
the tortoise, on page 236 of your February number, 
this parasite is not at all uncommon, and can 
frequently be found if looked for. On the tortoises 
which are exhibited for sale in the streets of this 
town, at certain times of the year, I have occasion- 
ally seen them, generally around the upper part of 
the legs, or in the hollows between the neck and 
the forelimbs. From these places it is utterly 
impossible for the tortoise to remove its unwelcome 
guests. In Naples, Genoa and other Mediterranean 
ports the parasites can be found on the animals in 
far greater numbers than in this country, thai is, 
so far as I have noticed. At the places named 
they are generally exhibited in old orange-boxes, 
each compariment containing animals of a similar 
size, and the price is usually 60, 7o and 80 
centissimo (3d., 4d., and 5d.). Occasionally extra 
fine specimens, which are generally placed on the 
top of the box, and not packed one upon another 
inside, as the smaller ones are, fetch as much as 
6d. or 8d. The wretched animals seem to be ait 
times half covered with parasites, which resemble 
small brown specks. These frequently affix them- 
selves on the tortoise just at the junction of the 
skin and the“ shell.” On several animals which I 
purchased I noticed the parasites, and, on asking 
the vendor, was informed that they were ‘“‘ young 
tortoise! "—T. Sheppard, Hon. Sec. Hull Scientific 
and Fizld Naturalists’ Club. 


Fossit FERN at Grants’ CavUsEway.—With 
regard to the fossil fern mentioned by Mr. Barbour 
(aniz p. 194) as having been found by him ait the 
Giants’ Causeway, no one seems to have hit on 
what to me seems io be the true explanation, viz., 
that it is not a fern at all, but a natural imitation 
ofafern. In fact it is probably nothing more nor 
less than dendritic crystalline markings on the rock. 
I have specimens of syenite (limestone from Lower 
Lias), flint and fine-grained altered sandstone, all 
having dendritic markings on their surfaces; some 
resembling ferns. In the Mineral Gallery at South 
Kensington Museum there is a specimen of rock 
with dendritic markings about four feet long, like 
the long fronds of a fern. I am speaking from 
memory as regards the size of the specimens. 
Here in Leicestershire at the syenite (granite) 
quarries the quarrymen often find such markings 
on the surface of the rock. The basalt at the 
Giants’ Causeway would preclude all idea of it 
being a fossil fern. At the South Kensington 
Museum the composition of the dendritic marking 
is given as oxides of manganese. On page 172 of 
Geikie’s Text-book of Geology, third edition, the 
chemical composition of ordinary basalt is given, 
and one of the constituents is mentioned as oxides 
of iron and manganese, so that in the rock itself 
is the material ready for forming the dendritic 
markings in any of the natural cracks or joints. 
If Mr. Barbour could obtain a piece of the marking 
it could be decided. It will be remembered that 
instances of these dendritic patterns on flinis were 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


figured in the new series of Science-GossIpP, vol. i., 
pp. 267-8-9, illustrating an article upon them by 
Mr. Carrington.—Thomas Edwards, Cliftonville House, 
Leicester ; January 29th, 1897. 


INEBRIETY AMONG Bers.—The “ Journal of 
Botany ’’ for last December contains a note by 
J. D. Williams on the intoxicating effects on bees 
of certain members of Compositz and Dipsacace. 
Reading this recalled an observation of my own 
when staying in Torquay during the autumn of 
1895. The beautiful lime-tree avenues there were 
a veritable death-trap to many thousands of bees, 
who sipped “‘not wisely but too well” at the 
bountiful supply of nectar provided, and then fell 
down inebriate to the road beneath, where they 
wandered about in a maudlin kind of fashion, a 
melancholy sight for any bee with a tendency to 
temperance work. The major part of the abandoned 
were too gloriously drunk to care what became of 
them, and simply lay supinely to be crushed out of 
recognition by the constant traffic, both vehicular 
and pedestrian. For several weeks the road beneath 
the lime-trees was literally carpeted with bees in 
various stages of intoxication, and the death-roll 
must have been enormous as the avenue was an 
important connection between Tor and Torquay, 
and much of the traffic from Torquay Station to the 
town passed alongit. The bees that were fortunate 
enough to fall on the borders of grass growing along 
the side-paths appeared to gradually recover from 
the toxic effects of the lime-flowers, but whether it 
was to renew the debauch, or that the one experience 
enabled them to avoid any future excesses I am 
unable to say.— George T. Harris, 33, Lindore Road, 
New Wandsworth. 


NoMENCLATURE.—I cordially agree with a late 
correspondent in his remarks as to the useless- 
ness if not actual mischievousness of altering 
old and well-known generic names; nor can I 
see that science gains any benefit therefrom or is 
in any way advanced by the change. As a 
worker in the Upper Tertiary deposits, and 
knowing the shells fairly well, I confess I cannot 
follow much of the new literature. Helix ericetorum 
every conchologist knows; but how many H. itiala 
(Conchol. Soc. list)? Zonites is a useful name. 
Will the species be better understood if it is called 
Hyalinia, Viirea, or Helicella? Azeca and Zua are 
well known, and I am glad to see them back again 
in the list referred to above, afier they were turned 
into Cochlicopa by Jefirey. Are we better off 
because our old friend Paludiaa becomes Viviparus, 
or Cyclosioma Pomatias; and then Harimanni or 
Cylichna, Utriculus and other well-defined and 
well-known groups jammed into one as Bullinella, 
or, again, Cyprina, which the veriest tyro could not 
mistake if transformed into Avcica? Again, the 
passion for changing names because a genus in quite 
another class bears a similar one, or but slightly 
varied, is bound to lead to confusion. I writeas much 
the interest of the newer generation, to whom the 
older works of Lyell, Woodward, Wood, Beck, 
and others are becoming practically obsolete, as my 
own. Cheamys may be a very pretty name, and 
probably a very old one, but surely Pesten 
is quite as good, and far better known to all 
collectors and students. The reason, I am told, 
why these changes should be made is to bring us 
into line with continental writers. That is all 
right; but it seems to me that there are as good 
men in the United Kingdom as there are on the 
Continent, and quite as well worth following. As 
regards “‘ honouring ” the authors by restoring their 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


often obscure or forgotten names, the work will 
never stop if it is going on at its present rate; a 
little injustice of this kind may be easily passed 
over. I see our British Helices are now divided 
into fourteen or fifteen sub-genera. Cannot some 
enthusiast for this sort of thing make a few 
more ?—Alfred Bell, London. 


PARASITE OF ToRTOISE.—I can supplement to a 
small extent Mr. Howarth’s very interesting note 
in last month’s ScIENCE-Gossip (ante p. 236) 
respecting his discovery. A tortoise was bought 
from a man in the street in the spring of 1895; 
it was placed in the garden, and soon afterwards I 
discovered on it, in various places, a number of the 
parasites. There were four in good condition and 
the incomplete remains of several others. On 
attempting to remove them they were found to 
be so firmly attached that it was impossible with- 
out risk of damage. The tortoise did not appear 
inconvenienced when even strong traction was 
made, except in the case of one, which was fixed 
in the somewhat thinner skin lying between the 
front legs and neck. When this one was touched 
the tortoise withdrew itself sharply, as though 
pained. I believe from general appearances that 
this was the only living specimen. Both paraffin 
and sweet oil were applied in hopes of killing the 
creatures, if not already dead, and obtaining them 
without injury, but they held on just the same 
after the application. Finally one was removed 
by main force, plus a piece of the host’s skin, 
another came off entire, with the mouth organs 
complete, the other two left them imbedded, but 
one set was extracted without injury afterwards. 
On examination under the microscope, my speci- 
mens agree so closely with Mr. Howarth’s drawings 
that there can be no doubt as to the identity of the 
species, although none of them have been so fortu- 
nate as to show the lancets extruded. The antennze 
exactly correspond, and the curious tufts of hairs at 
the apex, shown at fig. b, are especially noteworthy. 
Eyes are absent. In all my specimens the two 
halves of the double proboscis, however, lie closely 
together, and on the under side there is a structure 
not in the drawings. It is a kind of case, or partial 
sheath, very like the under half of a duck’s bill in 
shape, somewhat concave on the upper side, and in 
this hollow the pair of tubes lie, partly enclosed 
and protected by it, and it extends a little beyond 
their ends. At the tip, and for about one-half of 
the length behind it, there is a number of triangular 
tooth-like projections pointing backwards, and it is 
these projections which give the owner such a 
secure hold on the skin of its unwilling host. It is 
easy, on looking at them, to understand how, even 
in death, the attachment would still be main- 
tained, and that nothing probably but destructive 
force would effect removal. A similar structure 
does not exist on the upper side, unless, indeed, 
in all my specimens it has become detached 
and lost, as was evidently the case with the 
lower side in the one from which the drawings were 
made; but there is no evidence of rupture visible 
in mine. From its position and structure it may 
be concluded that this sheath is the weapon which 
first punctures the tough skin of the tortoise and 
enables the somewhat delicate tubes with their 
enclosed lancets to enter without injury. The legs 
appear to be weak and inefficient, the tarsi especially 
so, and probably the animal—particularly the 
female—having once obtained a suitable position 
on the host seldom or never quits it. Infig.da 
kind of pad may be seen under the terminal claws, 


283 


which is, I think, referred to in the appended family 
description and would be useful in crawling over 
the slippery, hard skin, where claws alone might 
fail. There is but very scanty notice of this 
parasite in any books accessible to me. In the 
Rev. J. G. Wood’s ‘‘ Natural History,” 1863 edition, 
page 683, the following occurs: ‘‘ There is hardly any 
animal which is not subject to the attacks of these 
tiresome mites, and even the hard-shelled tortoise 
itself is not free from them. They fix themselves 
so firmly with their barbed grapnels that if they 
are roughly torn from their hold they either leave 
their heads in the wound or carry away part of 
the flesh.” In the table of generic distinctions, 
page 8o1, the family Ixodidz is described: ‘‘ Body 
with leathery covering ; beak blunt, toothed at tip, 
barbed at middle; last joint of feet two-clawed, 
with vesicle.’ Genus Ixodes described same as 
family ; no doubt our specimens belong here. In 
Carpenter’s ‘‘ Microscope and its Revelations,” 
seventh edition, there is a good deal of information 
about the family scattered through page 932 and 
several following.—Jas. Burton, 9, Agamemnon Road, 
West Hampstead. 


CHARLES DarWIN AND HEREDITY.—Professor 
Poulton, of Oxford, in a recent work on Charles 
Darwin, remarks as follows: ‘‘ Darwin’s power was 
largely due to the inheritance of the imagination of 
his grandfather, combined with the acute observa- 
tion of his father. Although he possessed an 
even larger share of both these qualities than his 
predecessors, it is probable that he owed more to 
their co-operation than to the high degree of their 
development.” Now, some people who carefully 
consider this passage will not agree with the 
learned Oxford Professor. Powers of imagination 
and of acute observation do not co-exist in the 
scientific intelligence, and the late Charles Darwin 
was not very strong in the latter attribute. The 
grand secret of his success was his singular power 
of literary imagination, which the force of circum- 
stances, habits, character, etc., directed into a 
particular field of thought. His grandfather had 
fought very valiantly in the endeavour to manu- 
facture poetry out of bald and dry scientific 
material. The illustrious grandson attempted 
precisely the same feat; but his plans and course 
of procedure were decidedly more astute and more 
carefully prepared. Modernscientific investigators 
commence work by analysing the concrete so as 
to arrive at a general fact or law. In doing so 
they develop any amount of experimental subtlety ; 
but if anything apparently anomalous or excep- 
tional is encountered they lay it aside and await 
further information about it. Not so Darwin. 
He failed to find the facts by analysis, but he 
eagerly grasped the exceptions, however trifling 
or insignificant, and it was these that set his 
imagination agoing. For instance, he noticed in 
the course of experiments directed to another 
object that the offspring of a cross were superior 
in vigour to seedlings of self-fertilized parentage ; 
and it has been said that the whole of the 
important researches into the effects of cross- and 
self- fertilization originated in this accidental 
observation. As a matter of fact, as is now 
well-known, this superiority in vigour is merely 
exceptional, and self-fertilizers are immensely more 
productive than those dependent on insect aid. 
However, the observation was eagerly seized as 
an appropriate pabulum for Darwin’s inimitable 
theorizing faculties.—Dr. P. Q. Keegan, Patterdale, 
Westmoreland ; January, 1897. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


VARIATIONS OF THE LEAF-BLADE.—This subject 
is extremely important in many respects; but for 
that very reason we must be all the more careful 
and cautious in assigning true causes to the effects 


that we see produced in nature. For instance, I 
cannot agree with the conclusion (ante p. 210) 
that warmth and moisture favour the growth of the 
parenchymatous and vascular tissues of land 
plants. It isindeed the first time that I ever read 
that midsummer was characterised by warmth and 
moisture. The principal factor in the production 
of leaf variation is an intense illumination which, 
all other conditions being alike, evokes the following 
differences in structure, viz.: the palisade paren- 
chyma exhibits a greater development ; the leaf is 
thicker, has a greater abundance of chlorophyll, 
the different elements of the epidermis are more 
developed, the cuticle in particular is much thicker, 
the stomata are more numerous, especially on the 
upper surface. Light, however, is not the sole 
cause, it is aided purely and simply by dryness of 
the air, and this produces precisely similar effects, 
although in a much less marked degree. The third 
and last agency in the work is that of temperature, 
and this, when warm, aids the two foregoing 
causes, but when cold it helps to develop the 
protective tissues and at the same time diminishes 
the number and size of the vessels, and also the 
tissues whose function it is to nourish the plant. 
These facts taken together and wrought out on the 
basis of the Lamarckian philosophy will be found 
to harmonise exceedingly well with the physio- 
logical needs of the plant under the physical 
conditions specified above. To come to details, 
the cases of the leaves of the fig-tree figured at 
page 210 (ante) must now be considered. In this 
instance the leaves do not ‘‘ become larger as the 
waym weather advances’’; it is not the warmth 
and dampness of midsummer that favours the 
rapid lengthening of the midrib; both effects are 
teally due to the increased illumination and 
dryness incident to that season. The rapid 
lengthening of the midrib is not a cause, it is an 
effect due to the same causes that produce a 
broader or narrower and thicker leaf. Mr. Griset’s 
explanation of the sub-division of the leaves of the 
bittersweet and of aquatic plants is correct, 
except that want of light is only a circumstance 
and not an active agent. The round entire form of 
many floating leaves are not floats to buoy the 
plant to the surface of the water. It is the inner 
or organic needs of the plant under the conditions 
of its environment which prompts the ‘highly 
accommodating protoplasm” to adapt itself to 
circumstances, and thuswise there is formed on 
the surface of the water a broadly and beautifully 
rotund area of leaf structure which, although fully 
and freely exposed to light and air, does not need 
any contraction of its contour or any extra thick- 
ening of its tissues (as in land plants) in order to 
preserve it from the deadly effects of a too 
excessive transpiration.—[Dy.] P. Q. Keegan, Lon- 
don; February 4th, 1897. 


NESTING-PLACE OF THE WEDGED-TAILED GULL. 
—In ‘‘Science,” January 2oth, there is an interesting 
article on the discovery, by Dr. Nansen, of the 
breeding-grounds of Ross’ gull, also known as the 
wedge-tailed or rosy gull, Rhodostethia rosea. In a 
letter published in the ‘‘Daily Chronicle,’’ Dr. 
Nansen states that he found flocks of rosy gulls on 
August 6th, in latitude 81° 38’, east longitude 63°. 
The birds were seen near four small islands, called 
‘‘Hirtenland’’ by Nansen, a little north-east of 
Franz-Josef Land. Though Nansen did not 
actually find nests he found the birds abundant, 
and concluded that their nests were probably 
near by. 


PALLAs’ WILLOW WARBLER IN NORFOLK.—Mr. 
Thomas Southwell, in the ‘ Zoologist,” gives a 
detailed account of the finding of a specimen of 
this rare warbler, Phylloscopus provegulus, at Cley- 
next-the-sea, Norfolk. Mr. Ramm, the person 
who shot the bird, says that he found it amongst 
the long grass on the bank or sea-wall not far from 
the sea at Cley, a locality which has produced 
many rare migrants. Apparently the last appear- 
ance of Pallas’ willow warbler in Europe was 
that mentioned by Herr Gatke, in his ‘“‘ Birds of 
Heligoland,”’ p. 293. It was found by Claus 
Aeuckeus, one of his collectors. Mr. Seebohm, in 
the ‘‘ Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum” 
(vol. v., p. 72), states that this bird breeds in the 
sub-Alpine districts of South-Eastern Siberia, and 
throughout the Alpine districts of the Himalayas 
from Cashmere to Burma, passes through North 
China on migration, and winters in South China, 
Burma and Bengal, and, it may be added, occa- 
sionally strays as far west as Heligoland and the 
east coast of Britain. 


THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY has just acquired a 
female monkey of the genus Cercopithecus, which is 
of very great interest, inasmuch as no specimen of 
this particular species has been received at the 
menagerie since 1841. Dr. Sclater put this species 
(C. tantalus) among those which he had not seen 
when he made his list of the known species of this 
large genus. In 1841 Mr. W. Ogilby called the 
attention of the members of the Society to a new 
species of monkey then in the Gardens, to which 
he gave the specific name tantalus. He referred to 
the group now called ‘green monkeys,” and 
compared it with some of the members of that 
group. No details were obtainable as to the 
previous origin of that specimen. The question as 
to its native land, however, is now definitely 
settled, for the new arrival is known to have come 
from West Africa. She presents many points of 
resemblance to the Grivet (C. griseo-viridis), from 
East Africa and Abyssinia; tothe ordinary green 
monkey (C. callitrichus), from West Africa; and to 
the vervet (C. Jalandi), from South Africa; yet the 
points of difference are sufficiently well marked to 
show that she can be classed with none of the 
three. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


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City oF LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History Society.—Tuesday, January r1gth, 1897. 
Exhibits: Mr. E. Heasler, a series of Aplecta prasina 
taken at sugar in June last at Brockenhurst ; series 
of Hylophila bicolorana, bred from larve taken at 
Loughton, and H. prasinana, captured at sugar in 
New Forest. Mr. J. A. Clark, a dark specimen of 
Achevontia atropos, the larva being taken at 
Walthamstow in August, and imago emerging 
November 25th; also picked variable forms of 
Angerona pyunavia, var. sordiata, six male, four 
female, bred from ova laid by a female the last of 
three impregnated by same male. The brood con- 
sisted of eighty-two larvee, of which about sixty-five 
successfully passed through all stages. Amongst 
the males variation occurred in the size of the 
orange marking in apical angle of fore-wings, 
which marking coalesced with the central orange 
area in one specimen ; in another the orange area 
was streaked with black lines. A female was 
asymmetrically marked, the left hind-wing being 
without the broad dark border of the right. Also 
Aglais (Vanessa) urtice, caught in August last at 
Ponder's End, with the black spots at costal 
margin much suffused, and the two outer confluent. 
Also two vars. of Pievis vabe from same locality, 
the upper wings of one, a male, being almost 
perfectly white, with no darkening at tip of 
fore-wings, and the black spot in the middle 
showing dimly; the second, a female, having 
the hinder of the two spots on upper wing in 
duplicate. Mr. G. R. Garland, larve of Trochilium 
crabroniformis (bembeciformis), from Manchester, 
feeding on wood of willow; also a series of Nyssia 
zonavia, taken at Blundellsands, near Liverpool; 
and a sample of cotton made by a new patent 
process to imitate silk. Mr. D. C. Bate, five well- 
marked male and one female Dasychira ‘pudibunda, 
bred from larve with black hairs; all emerged in 


November, having been kept indoors. Also 
Pecilocampa populi, the larva being beaten at 
Dorking, In endeavouring to breed Hybernia 


defoliavia he said his imagines emerged dwarfs, 
three being exhibited. The larve were obtained at 
Dulwich, and wild moths shown from same locality 
were of normal size. Mr. Clark suggested the 
dwarfing was perhaps caused by keeping the larve 
too dry. Mr. L. J. Tremayne read a paper 
entitled, ‘‘The History of Silk,” and a vote of 
thanks was heartily accorded him.—Hon. SUp IE 
J. Tremayne, H. A. Sauzé. 


THE SoutH LonpDoN ENTOMOLOGICAL AND 
NatTuraL History SocigTy.—January 28th. Mr. 
R. South, F.E.S., President, in the chair. This 
was the Annual Meeting and devoted to receiving 
the report of the Council, the reading of the 
balance sheet and the address of the retiring 
President. The officers and Council elected for the 
ensuing year were :—President, R. Adkin, F.E.S.; 
Vice-Presidents, R. South, F.E.S., and J. W. 
Tutt, F.E.S.; Hon. Treasurer, T. W. Hall, F.E.S.: 
Hon. Librarian, H. A. Sauzé: Hon. Curator, W. 
West (Greenwich); Hon. Secretaries, Stanley 


285 


Edwards, F.L.S., F.E.S., and H. J. Turner, F.E.S.; 
Council, Messrs. C. G. Barrett, F.E.S., A. W. 
Dennis, H. S. Fremlin, F.E.S., W. Mansbridge, 
F.E.S, A. W. Mera, Hy. Tunaley, F.E.S., and 
Cole. Partridge. Mr. South then delivered 
his address. After referring to the good position 
which the Society still continued to maintain in 
membership and usefulness as well as in its 
finances, he pointed out various lines of study 
which members of the Society might with benefit 
take up. Especial interest was attached to the 
study of the various means of protection in 
insects. He spoke of the extraordinary interest 
shown in natural history by the general public, 
as evinced by the success of so many recent pub- 
lications. After enumerating the new additions 
to the British fauna, he remarked on the 
growing interest taken by British entomologists in 
European lepidoptera, and said that no doubt 
the result would be the degradation of many now 
called species. In reference to the study of varia- 
tion he considered that much more attention might 
be paid to the distribution of varieties. He stated 
that classification seemed to be in a state of chaos, 
each of the several works recently issued on 
lepidoptera differed very materially in that 
respect. He referred in glowing terms to the 
recent experiments of Weismann, and urged all 
those who took an interest in breeding to work 
much more on experimental lines.—February 11th, 
Mr. R. Adkin, F.E.S., President, in the chair. Mr. 
Barrett exhibited specimens of a species new to 
Britain, Platyptilia tessavadactylus, taken by Mr. 
de V. Kane in the west of Ireland; the specimens 
were greyer than the usual German form. Mr. 
Routledge, a fine var. of Dianthecia conspersa, bred 
from Orkney ; it was generally ochreous, the usually 
white markings being grey. Mr. Tutt, dead larve of 
Hepialus lupulinus, which had been attacked by a 
fungus. Living larvze were also shown which had 
nibbled the dead ones. On behalf of Mr. Fletcher, 
of Worthing, he exhibited a series of hybrid Zyge- 
nidz, from continental Z. ochsenheimeri and British 
Z. filipendule, which hybrid race was perfectly 
fertile; also, on behalf of Mr. Prince, of Cheshire, 
a large box of common species, showing the local 
forms and range of variation; among these the 
Nyssia zonavia was most interesting for the varia- 
tion in the transverse lines; and, on behalf of Dr. 
Chapman, the living larva of Bryophila perla, showing 
its silken gallery to which it retires during the day ; 
it was noted that the species did not hibernate, but 
fed all the winter. Mr. McArthur, a specimen of 
Aplecta occulta just bred from a Rannoch larva. 
Mr. Adkin, a series of the same species, part taken 
and part bred from larve taken at the same locality. 
They were of good size and very darkly marked. 
Mr. Perks, specimens of the ‘‘ Jumping Bean,” a 
Mexican fruit containing the larve of Carpocapsa 
saltitans. The remainder of the evening was devoted 
to the exhibition, by means of the lantern, of some 
sixty photo-micrographic slides of insect anatomy 
by Mr. F. Clark, aided by Mr. Furneaux, F.R.G.S. 
Some of the prepared objects from which slides had 
been made were kindly lent by Mr. W. West, of 
Streatham. Mr. Clark first showed, by means of 
diagrams, his method of making the slides, and then 
went on to exhibit various forms of antenne, the 
trachz, several forms of the tongue, the compound 
eye, scales of lepidoptera, hairs of common larve 
and a most interesting series of the parasites of 
man and animals. The large screen used had been 
bought by Mr. Edwards and most kindly presented 
to the Society, which is now admirably equipped 


TS EEE 


286 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


with its lantern and all appliances for demonstra- 
tion purposes.—Hy. J. Turner, Hon. Report Secretary. 


THE North Lonpon NaturaL HIstTory 
Society’s fifth annual exhibition was held in 
the lecture hall at the North-east London Institute 
on Saturday, January 2nd, 1897. The exhibits 
were, if anything, even more numerous than last 
year, and a great improvement was made in 
covering the walls with photographs and botanical 
specimens. The entomological department was, 
as usual, the best represented, but botany was 
also very much to the fore, and a charming 
little table was made up of ornithological exhibits 
supplied by Mr. Barber. Mr. Hanbury’s botani- 
cal stand was as attractive as ever. Lantern 
illustrations were once more on view, Mr. Wattson 
contributing some more ‘“‘life in a pond,” and 
Dr. Gerard Smith attracting great attention with 
his photo-micrographs illustrative of plant mor- 
phology, marine zoology, etc. Short lectures were 
delivered during the evening—by Mr. Bacot, ‘‘On 
behalf of Insects; by Mr. R. W. Robbins, on 
*« Botany’; by Mr. Wattson, on ‘“‘ Pond life,” and 
by Mr. Rose, on ‘“‘ The flight of birds; and were 
well received. The exhibition was unanimously 
admitted to be the best the society have yet held.— 
Lawrence J. Tremayne, Hon. Sec. 


CAMBRIDGE ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History Society.—January 29th, the President, 
Dr. Sharp, in the chair. Mr. Doggett exhibited a 
pair of grasshopper warblers with nest and eggs, 
from Wicken Fen; a pigeon with webbed feet ; six 
eggs of the barn-owl, taken from the nest at the same 
time, dissected to show the embryos therein, which 
varied from three to thirteen days in age. He said 
there was also a young bird just hatched in the 
nest with the eggs. Mr. Farren showed a wax- 
wing lately shot in the Orkney Islands; also two 
young specimens of the great northern diver from 
the same locality, one in an interesting stage of 
plumage, the grey feathers of the young bird just 
changing to the black and white of the winter 
plumage. The President made some remarks 
upon insect mechanism, illustrated by a South 
American form of the common “click beetle.” 
Mr. Rickard read a paper upon the same subject, 
discussing the way in which the movements 
of the well-known jumping beans are brought 
about by the larve inhabiting them.—January 
15th, Dr. Sharp in the chair. Mr. Rickard 
showed some tadpoles of the common frog in a 
lively state; these had remained over from March 
of last year, though others under the same 
conditions had become frogs. Mr. Doggett 
exhibited a series showing the development of the 
common trout (Salmo fario) from the egg to the 
adult fish ; also a chevril, a variety of the goldfinch, 
from Midsummer Common. Mr. Fleet exhibited a 
good specimen of a large weevil (Cleonus nebulosus) 
from the crop of a stone-curlew purchased in the 
market. It was suggested that a probable locality 
for both bird and beetle was Brandon. Dr. Sharp 
exhibited a fine mass of the cocoons of Aphomia 
sociella picked up in the neighbourhood; also some 
remarkable dipterous larvz, viz., an undescribed 
Tabania larve from the New Forest, with feet 
disposed all over the body and somewhat allied to 
Tabanus spodopterus: he thought it might be the 
larva of Atylotus; larva of Scenopinus fenestvalis 
from Bucks. He called attention to the importance 
of ascertaining whether this larva is injurious, as 
commonly supposed, or whether it is present in 
woollen goods only to destroy other larve such as 


those of the clothes moth; larva of Microdon 
found in Portugal by Colonel Yerverry, which 
shows no sign of segmentation; also Idolothvips 
spectyum, sent by Mr. Froggatt from New South 
Wales.—February 12th, Dr. Sharp, the President, 
in the chair. The President showed a remarkable 
stridulating apparatus in a larva of the coleop- 
terous genus Passalus, recently sent by Mr. C. Hose 
from Borneo. He said that these larve are very 
abundant in logs in the tropics, and it was difficult 
to imagine what use such an elaborate organ could 
be to them. Mr. Farren exhibited two black 
guillemots from Orkney, one killed on January 18th, 
and the other on February 6th. The former was in 
full winter, the latter in full summer, plumage. 
Mr. Rickard showed a collection of corals and 
polypes from South Africa. Mr. Doggett has a 
preparation showing the development of the 
common grass snake from the egg. He also 
read a paper upon Apteryx. He said that 
during the last ten years he had kept in captivity 
five of the six described species of this genus. 
Upon one occasion a bird in his possession had 
laid an egg. He described its habits in captivity, 
dealt with many of its peculiarities in structure, 
and mentioned some of the Maori legends in 
connection with this remarkable bird. The paper 
was illustrated by a skin of Apteryx naasti, and a 
skeleton and egg also of the genus Apteryz. 


NORFOLK AND NORWICH NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY.— 
A meeting of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ 
Society was held at the Castle Museum, January 
26th, the President, Sir F. G. M. Boileau, Bart., in 
the chair. Mr. Southwell read a paper on the 
recent discoveries with regard to the reproduction 
of the eel. Referring to his previous communi- 
cations he said that very little advance had been 
made in our knowledge of the subject since his last 
address, but that in November last a communication 
was read before the Royal Society, embodying the 
results of the observations of an Italian naturalist. 
Professor Grassi, in which it was shown that a 
remarkable little fish found by him in the Strait of 
Mesina was the larval form of the common eel. 
This singular little creature was known as Lefto- 
cephalus brevivostris. Dr. Grassi traced this little 
creature through all its metamorphoses to the 
‘‘elvers’’ which ascend the rivers in the spring. 
The result of these observations was to fill up the 
gap in the knowledge of the life-history of this 
common fish, which, much to the discredit of 
naturalists, existed between its migration to the 
sea and the return of the new generation of elvers 
in the spring. Many other doubtful or obscure 
points were also cleared up, and the general result 
is that we are justifed in concluding that all the 
strange variations so noticeable in this fish, some of 
which are even regarded as distinct species, are 
but stages in its final development, which does 
not take place until its arrival in the deep 
sea, where it performs its appointed function 
of reproduction. Mr. G. H. Harris read ‘‘ Notes 
on Yarmouth Herring Fishing of 1896.’ The 
herring fishing of 1896, he said, was notable 
for two characteristics—a large catch and 
low prices, the result being unsatisfactory to the 
boat-owners. Exception must be taken, however, 
in the case of the Scotch boats. Asa whole theirs 
was a satisfactory fishing. This was due, in- 
directly, to the competition set up by the Norway 
herring. Exported from Norway to England, these 
fish depreciated prices on the home markets; 
exported also from Norway to the Continent, they 
demoralized the continental markets. The reason 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


of the demoralization lay not only in the fall of 
prices, but also in the fact that being large and, at 
the same time, coarse fish, they set up a prejudice 
in these markets against all large fish. Herring 
caught in Yarmouth boats were large fish, and not 
being easily distinguished from the Norwegian 
article by the inexperienced eye, fell under the 
same condemnation. But the Scotch caught a 
smaller fish by reason of the smaller mesh of the 
net they use. These fish, by reason of their 
smaller size, found favour as ‘“‘pickles’’ in the 
Continental markets, to the detriment of the 
Yarmouth-caught herring. Another cause militat- 
ing to the disadvantage of the Yarmouth catcher 
as against the Scotch catcher lay in the fact that 
Yarmouth boats salted their fish, whilst Scotch 
boats made short voyages and landed none but 
fresh fish. The salt item was always considerable, 
and when ‘‘gluts” came and prices fell indefinitely, 
serious. But the avoidance of the expense was 
practically impossible, owing to the insuperable 
difficulty of dealing with unlimited quantities of 
fresh fish. In 1896 the total catch landed at Yar- 
mouth was 19,250 lasts. Of this number 14,420 
were caught by Yarmouth and Lowestoft boats, 
and 4,830 by Scotch boats. 145 Yarmouth boats 
were engaged, catching perhaps 85 lasts per boat ; 
129 Scotch boats were engaged, catching about 37 
lasts per boat. The total catch landed at Lowes- 
toft throughout the year was 8,189 lasts. Of 
these, the spring and summer voyages accounted 
for 687 lasts. In Yarmouth, the spring and 
summer voyages were so unimportant as to be 
almost neligeable, yielding only 260 lasts. The 
discrepancy that a calculation made to afford a 
comparison between the respective average catches 
of Yarmouth and Lowestoft boats, and based as 
the above figures disclosed, was due to the large 
number of Lowestoft-caught herring landed at 
Yarmouth. The total number of herring landed 
at Yarmouth may be set down at 254,000,000. It 
was remarkable that this vast host should be 
“told,” that is, literally counted, not in ones, but 
in fours or ‘‘warps.’’ The fish were ‘‘told’’ into 
baskets or ‘‘mands” on deck. Thirty-three 
‘‘ warps” or a “long tale’’ (or long tell) hundred 
go to a ‘‘mand.’’ The ‘‘mand” was slid on a 
plank from deck to quay, carried across the road, 
and emptied into a larger basket, or ‘ swill.”’ 
Thirty ‘‘ swills’’ went to the “last.” A ‘‘last” 
was 13,200 herring, or 3,300 ‘‘warps.’’ Was the 
word ‘‘mand,” now applied to the basket, origin- 
ally the word for the heaps or ‘‘ mounds ”’ of fish, 
each numbering 132? Mr. W. H. Tuck sent a list 
of Aculeate Hymenoptera from Tostock, Suffolk, 
collected in 1896, which brings the list for that 
parishup tor8r. Mr. A. W. Preston, F.R.Met.Soc., 
contributed the ‘‘ Meterological Notes for 1896.”’ 
The two most remarkable points to be noticed 
were the lowness of the rainfall, being three to 
four inches deficient, and the comparative absence 
of severe thunderstorms during the summer. Mr. 
J. H. Gurney, F.Z.S., exhibited a white variety of 
the Sanderling, from Heacham, and an owl new to 
science (Scops albiventris), from Lombok. 

HULL SCIENTIFIC AND FIELD NATURALISTS’ 
CLus.—The usual fortnightly meeting of this club 
was held in the Friendly Societies’ Hall, Hull, on 
Wednesday evening, January 2oth. The President, 
Dr. J. Hollingworth, M.R.C.S., occupied the 
chair. There was a very good attendance. Mr. 
Boult reported that he had recently paid a visit to 
New Holland on an entomological expedition, but 
as the ‘‘ willows” had been cut down, he madea 


287 


fruitless journey. He stated that as a rule the 
willows were left growing until the end of 
February or early’'in March. Mr. Audas stated 
that the white-tailed eagle had recently been seen 
passing over Speeton Cliffs. Other interesting 
ornithological notes were also contributed by 
various members. It was also pointed out that seals 
had lately been observed at Scarboro’ and Brid- 
lington. The exhibits included a skull and several 
bones of a bronze-age Briton, recently found at 
Brough by Mr. T. Sheppard, and several entomo- 
logical specimens by other members. Mr. Porter 
stated that he had received a letter from Mr. 
Russell, one of our former members, who is now 
in South Africa. Mr. Russell complains that it 
is almost an impossibility to keep entomological 
or indeed any natural-history specimens in that 
part of the world, owing to the ravages of the 
white ants. It appears these animals penetrate 
into every nook and corner, and their motto is 
‘‘destruction.”” The preventives used in England 
have not the slightest effect upon the white ant. 
Mr. G. Ross read a paper on ‘‘Spiders.’’ The 
first part of this was devoted to a description of 
the various organs of these animals, and their uses. 
With the aid of diagrams and black-board illustra- 
tions, the relative positions of the organs were 
most clearly shown, the brain, nervous system, 
eyes, mouth, ‘‘spinnerets,’ alimentary canal, 
limbs, etc., all receiving consideration. The 
second portion of the paper, dealing with the 
lecturer's personal observations of the habits of 
spiders, was well appreciated. Mr, Ross explained, 
in his characteristically humorous fashion, the 
various little antics he had watched, and the 
experiments he had conducted with these animals. 
A discussion followed, in which several members 
took part. Messrs. Boult and Porter then gave 
notes ‘‘ On Recent Progress in Local Entomology.”’ 
Mr. Boult, who is the club’s curator, exhibited 
five cases of entomological specimens, which had 
been added to the Society’s collection during 
1896. In addition to the butterflies and moths, 
their caterpillars are in several instances also 
nicely mounted. Mr. Boult has long had a reputa- 
tion for the excellent manner in which he preserves 
caterpillars, and those in the cases just referred to 
were up to the usual standard. In addition to the 
name which accompanies each specimen in the 
collection is a number, and Mr. Boult explained 
that opposite the corresponding number in the 
‘record ’’ book were full particulars of the speci- 
men—where found and when, by whom, names of 
specimen (both common and scientific), by whom 
presented to the collection, etc. Mr. Porter 
referred to the finding of a specimen of that rare 
moth Boletobia fuliginavria on a lamp near the 
Alexandra Dock, Hull, during the past year. 
This moth, which is rare, has not previously 
been recorded for Yorkshire. The specimen has 
been identified by Mr. J. W. Tutt, of London. 
It was stated that as the specimen is slightly 
damaged it was desirable to have, if possible. 
further examples, and the members, especially 
the entomologists, were urged to carefully examine 
the land in the neighbourhood of the docks during 
the coming summer, in the hopes of securing 
further specimens. Mr. Porter also read an 
account of a find, in 1884, of the same species of 
moth on the banks of the Thames at Bermondsey. 
At the latter place, however, in addition to the 
moth, the larve were discovered feeding on a 
black fungus or mould which grew on old beams 
there.—Wednesday, February 3rd. The President, 


288 


Dr. J. Hollingworth, M.R.C.S., occupied the chair. 
Mr. Boult exhibited a series of specimens repre- 
senting the life-history of the common vapourer 
(Orgyia antigua), including the male and female, 
pupa, larva and eggs. The same gentleman also 
reported having received about 200 specimens of 
beetles and butterflies from Mr. Russell, who is in 
South Africa. A good selection of these were 
handed round forinspection. The gorgeous colours 
of the butterflies were admired by all; we have 
nothing like them in this country. A letter was 
read from Mr. Russell in which he described an 
adventure he had had with a baboon. It appears 
these animals make raids on the gardens, etc., in 
the vicinity of the towns, much to the annoyance 
of the inhabitants. Mr. Coverdale exhibited a 
specimen of the bramling or bramble finch 
(Fringilla montifringilla, Linn.) which he had 
recently shot at Sand-le-mere, near Withernsea. 
Mr. J. Stow also sent a specimen of the same bird 
to the club, which he had captured at Hessle. 
Mr. Audas explained that the brambling is a 
migrant, only visiting this country in the winter, 
its home being in Siberia. Mr. J. Coverdale was 
elected a member of the Society. Mr. J. R. Boyle, 
F.S.A. (Author of ‘‘ Lost Towns of the Humber,” 
‘« The History of Hedon,” etc.), then proceeded to 
give a lecture on ‘‘ The Site of the old River Hull.” 
It was pointed out that formerly an arm of the 
present River Hull flowed along where Waterhouse 
Lane and Castle Street now are, the old ‘‘ Lime 
Kiln Creek ’’ being a portion of this stream. He 
also explained that the ‘‘old town” of Hull, that 
is the town within the docks, was built on an 
island formed between the two arms of the River 
Hull. Seeing that this island was formed and 
went on increasing in height as layer after layer of 
Humber warp accumulated on it long after the 
embankments on the Hull and Humber had been 
built, it was consequently of a higher level than 
those parts of the town situated outside the docks. 
Mr. Boyle then proceeded to show that the 
Beverley, Anlaby, Hessle and Holderness Roads 
were much lower than, say, Whitefriargate, Low- 
gate, High Street, and other parts of the old town. 
An excellent plan of Hull, on a large scale, was 
exhibited in illustration of the lecturer’s remarks. 
A hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr. Boyle for 
his valuable paper, the President complimenting 
the club on being the first public institution to 
hear the result of Mr. Boyle's recent investigations. 
—T. Sheppard, Hon. Sec., 78, Sherburn Street, Hull. 


NOTICES OF SOCIETIES. 


THE SoutTH LoNDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History Society. 
Mar. 11.—Discussion on ‘‘ Insect Protection.”’ 
C. G. Barrett, F.E.S. 
# oad Neglected Family.” By Fred. Enock, F.L.S., 
IDES 

Apr. 8—‘‘ Onthe Nature of Genera.’ By J. W. Tutt, F.E.S. 
+, 22.—‘‘ Some British Spider-crabs.” By E. Step, F.L.S. 
Papers have also been promised by F. Merrifield, F.E.S., 

G. R. Grote and others.—Hy. J. Turner, Hon, Report Sec. 


NortH Lonpon Naturat History Society.— The following 
are amongst the fixtures for next session: 
Mar. 27.—Visit to the Epping Forest Museum. 
Apr. 8.—Discussion: ‘ The Filices or Ferns.” 
R. W. Robbins. 
May 13.—‘‘ My trip to Highcliffe, and what I found in the 
Barton Beds.”’ J. Burman Rosevear, M.C.S. 
», 15.—Whole-day Excursion to Brentwood. 
»»  27.—‘‘ Dorsetshire Notes.” J. Wheeler, M.C.P. 
June 4-7.—Excursion to the New Forest. 
10.—Debate: ‘Is Vivisection Justifiable?” 
», 19.—Half-day Excursion to the Lea Valley. 
There will also be a special-family discussion entitled, 
‘““The Liparidz,’’ to be opened by A. Bacot on some date 
not yet fixed.—Lawrence J. Tremayne, Hon. Secretary. 


Opened by 


Opened by 


” 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


LAMBETH FIELD CLUB AND SCIENTIFIC SocleTY.—We have 
received the following list of fixtures for the forthcoming 


session : 
Mar. 1.—*To Norway in Quest of a Shadow.’ A.C.D. 
Crommelin, F.R.A.S. 

., 13.—Visit to Natural History Museum. 

», _ 15.—Photographic Demonstration. H.W. Cosson. 
April 5.—‘t Simple Types of Plant Life.” E. J. Davies. 

» 10.—Visit to Zoological Gardens. 

»  19.—Easter Monday.—Outing to Effingham. 
May 3.—‘‘Some of our Smaller Song-birds.”” E. W. 


Harvey-Piper. 
», 8.—Outing to Sanderstead (with Selborne Scciety). 
»,  22.—Visit to Kew Gardens. 
June 7.—Whit-Monday.—Outing to Cheshunt. 
»  19.—Outing to Caterham. H. Wilson, Hon. Sec., 
14, Melbourne Square, Brixton Road. 


HuLvt SCIENTIFIC AND FIELD NATURALISTS’ CLUB. 

Mar. 3.—Lecturettes: (1) “‘ Migration of Birds.” T. Audas, 
L.D.S. (2) ‘‘Extinct Animals of Holderness.” 
T. Sheppard. 

«,, 17.—‘‘ Notes of a Tour in Switzerland,” illustrated 
with lantern views and natural history speci- 
mens. F. W. Fierke, M.C.S. 

1» 31.—‘‘A Theory of Creation.” Rev. C. S. Hall. 


NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 


To CorRESPONDENTS AND EXCHANGERS.—SCIENCE-GOSSIP 
is published on the 25th of each month. All notes or other 
communications should reach us not later than the 18th of 
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and address of writer. Notices of changes of address 
admitted free. 

Nortice.—Contributors are requested to strictly observe the 
following rules. All contributions must be clearly written 
on one side of the paper only. Words intended to be 
printed in italics should be marked under with a single line. 
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SuBSCRIPTIONS.—Subscriptions to ScrENcE-GossIp, at the 
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Att editorial communications, books or instruments for 
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W.C. 


EXCHANGES. 


Notice.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including 
name and address) admitted free, but additional words must 
be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every. seven words 
or less. 


WILL exchange spread diatom slides for other objects, or 
books on microscopy.—H. Platt, Priory Villa, Victoria Road 
North, Southsea. 

DuPLIcATE sets great northern diver, Buffon’s skua, Manx 
shearwater, Leach’s petrel, osprey, killdeer plover, purple 
martin, sooty and noddy terns, curlew.—_F. W. Paple, 62, 
Waterloo Street, Bolton. 

Fossits and recent shells (some hundreds of species) 
offered in exchange for fossils from any formation, British 
or foreign; lists on application—Rev. John Hawell, Ingleby 
Greenhew Vicarage, Middlesbrough. 

Fossits, minerals, polished specimens, shells, micro 
sections and material, microscopic slides, and curios offered. 
What returns in exchange?—A. Sclater, Natural History 
Store, Teignmouth. / 

WanTED, Hinks’ “‘ Hydroid Zoophytes and Polyzoa” and 
other works, in exchange for Deakin’s ‘“ Flora Brittanica,” 4 
vols., coloured plates ; microscope, slides, etc.—J. Neeve, 4, 
Sydenham Road, Deal. 

PoLYCESTINA BARBADOES, Cleaned diatoms, various. 
Wanted, Foraminifera, or shore sand containing same.—A 
Henley, 303, Strand. 

WANTED, good microscope lamp with metal chimney, for 
cash.—A. Alletsee, Clifton, Milward Crescent, Hastings. 

WANTED, offers for ScrENcE-Gossip from start, in 1865, © 
32 vols, r to 28 bound in publisher’s cover, remainder 
unbound.—G. P. Bonny, 30, Wellington Road, Stoke New- 
ington, London, N. - 

OFFERED, good recent foreign and some fossil shells ; lists 
exchanged. Wanted, specially rare British marine, Helix 
revelata and Succinea oblonga.—Mrs. Carphin, M.C.S., 52, 
India Street, Edinburgh. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


289 


FUNGOID PLANT. DISEASES. 
By) Jonni. 


MONG the inexorable laws of nature that 
govern the maintenance of the balance of 

life, disease is one of the principal factors in 
reducing the numbers of any especial species which 
is unduly asserting itself in increasing numbers. 


CARRINGTON. 


world with apparently cruel severity. If, however, 
man could sufficiently understand their effect upon 
the future condition not only of the species attacked, 
but also of the surrounding inhabitants of the region 
affected, he might think less of the inconvenience 


SCENE IN A BAVARIAN FOREST. 


In the foreground a living beech-tree with seven sporophores of Polyporus yomentarius. 
(From ‘ Diseases of Plants,” published by Longmans & Co.) 


The most potent forms of disease, whether among 
plants or animals, are caused by fungoid or 
other cryptogamic parasites. To these sources 
may be traced the various epidemics which 
occasionally sweep large districts of the habitable 


APRIL, 1897.—No. 35, Vol. III. 


M 


to the individuals attacked, or of his own. Nature 
by its forces seldom exterminates the fittest 
inhabitants, except for the general good, and it 
is usually the weaker members of the species 
attacked that succumb. In maintaining the 


290 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


balance of life nature does not always resort to 
epidemic or sporadic efforts. There are always 
with us certain forms of what we term ‘‘ disease,” 
otherwise various parasitic life that exists at the 
cost of the hosts upon which it settles. In the 
vegetable world the most effective in keeping down 
a superabundance of any particular species are 
the diseases caused by attacks of cryptogamic 
parasites, especially of a fungoid nature. 

These forms constitute the subject of one of the 
most valuable contributions to botanical literature 
which have been issued from the press for many 
years past. The author of this work is Dr. Karl 
Freiherr von Tubeuf, of the University of Munich, 
and his labours bear every evidence of the deliberate 
painstaking study which characterises scientific 
students of his nation.) The book grows on one 
as it is read and re-read, for its pages are 
rarely without one 
or more _ interest- 
ing fact with re- 
gard to some more 
or less familiar dis- 
tortion or blemish 
in plant-life. The 
edition before us 
is, thanks to Dr. 
William G. Smith, 
of the Edinburgh 
University and the 
Royal Botanic Gar- 
dens of that city, 
reMmGereGl Hmirc 
English. Dr. Smith 
is no mere translator 
of this work, because 
he has long been 
known as an investi- 
gator in the field of 
research covered by 
organic disorders of 
vegetable life. Neither is the translator a stranger 
to the author, for, while working under his 
guidance, Dr. Smith saw the book take shape 
in his hands, and even added some items to its 
pages. In a subject so comparatively little worked 
as plant pathology, we may expect even the most 
perfect monograph soon to require amendment. 
This has been notably the case with Dr. von 
Tubeuf’s, for the interest it created by its publica- 
tion produced a number of new investigators, and 
consequently a large amount of new facts. Most 
of these, with the approval of the author, have 
been incorporated in Dr. Smith’s production, 


(1) “ Diseases of Plants induced by Cryptogamic Parasites : 
Introduction to the Study of Pathogenic Fungi, Slime-Fungi, 
Bacteria and Alge.” By Dr. Karl Freiherr von Tubeuf. 
English edition by William G. Smith, B.Sc., Ph.D. 654 pp. 
large 8vo; 330 illustrations. (London, New York and 
Bombay: Longmans, Greenand Co. 1897.) Price 18s. 


WITCHES’-BROOM ON HORNBEAM. 
(From ‘‘ Diseases of Plants.”’) 


which therefore becomes a new edition as well asa 
translation. We find that whole sections have 
been re-written, and the matter brought even 
with recent knowledge of their subjects. It is 
difficult to speak too highly of Dr. Smith’s work, 
which shows a wide knowledge of fungoid diseases 
of plants and of the literature of the subject 
published in several languages in the eastern and 
western hemispheres. 

The plan of Dr. von Tubeuf’s ‘‘ Diseases of 
Plants” is to take in review the biological, physio- 
logical and anatomical relationships accompanying 
phenomena of fungoid parasitism. There are also 
many remarks upon the preventive and combative 
agencies available against the more important 
diseases of economic plants. In writing the work 
the author has chiefly borne in mind that his duty 
first lay in educating and training his readers for 
systematic work in 
his especial field. 
For more exact 
descriptions he gives 
copious references 
to the works of 
specialists; Sac- 
cardo’s splendid 
‘‘Sylloge Fun- 
gorum,”’ being one 
of the greatest. We 
do not wish to infer 
that without these 
works of reference 
the various species 
of fungi referred to 
by Dr. von Tubeuf 
would be difficult to 
identify, for such 
would be far from 
the truth. On look- 
ing through the pages 
there are few which 
will puzzle even the beginner, so plainly does our 
author deal with each. The works quoted upon 
fungi themselves, either from the view of scientific 
description or life-history, are all recent of publi- 
cation and number over adozen. Those on diseases 
of plants are also important and recent, numbering 
a couple of dozen titles. 

The contents of this book are divided into two 
parts. The first contains nine chapters. They 
deal with the parasitic fungi, while the second 
part consists of four articles on classification and 
description of species. Parasitic fungi are described 
generally as the true fungi, together with the 
Myxomycetes,or slime-fungi, and the Schizomycetes, 
or bacteria, forming the group of cryptogams 
characterised by lack of chlorophyll or green 
colouring matter. These are broadly divided into 
saprophytes, being those which obtain nutriment 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


from dead organic matter; and parasites which 
acquire their nutriment from living plants and 
animals. In his definition of the parasitism of fungi 
the author defines saprophytic fungi as ‘‘ those 
which make no attempt to penetrate the tissues of 
living plants, but derive their nutriment from a 
dead substratum.” On the other hand, parasitic 
fungi ‘‘are those which, stimulated by the 
cell contents of another living plant, penetrate 
wholly or partially into its tissues and draw their 
nutriment from that source.” There are inter- 
mediate species of fungoid cryptogams which 
cannot be classed with either parasites or 
saprophytes. One section of these ‘‘attempt to 
effect an entrance 
into tissues of living 
plants by the secre- 
tion of some fluid or 
ferment, but only 
attain their object 
after first killing the 


part they attack.” 
The other section 
are those ‘‘ forms 


which inhabit wood 
of trees, but have not 
the power to pene- 
trate through the 
outer tissues. They 
depend on first gain- 
ing entrance through 
wounds into dead 
parts of the bark or 
wood, and, after 
living there for a 
time as saprophytes, 
extend into the living 
elements, and cause 
their death.’ True 
saprophytes are 
those which regu- 
larly pass through 
their whole  life- 
history in a sapro- 
phytic manner. 
This class of cryptogams are not treated in 
Dr. von Tubeuf’s book before us, which deals 
chiefly with the true parasites that undergo 
no part of their development as saprophytes, 
but live in every stage of existence as para- 
sites. There are also included the hemi-parasites 
and hemi-saprophytes. The former are capable, 
if need be, of becoming saprophytes for a season, but 
as a rule they live throughout their whole develop- 
ment as parasites. The latter usually pass through 
their lives as saprophytes, but occasionally are 
capable of existing wholly or partially as parasites. 
Some of these may be termed “‘ occasional parasites,’ 
for under certain conditions they become parasitic. 


M 


EPICHLOE TYPHINA forming white circles on grass stems. 
(From “‘ Diseases of Plants.”) 


291 


The ‘‘ Uredineae, or rust-fungi, may be taken as 
the most typical of the true parasites. They con- 
stantly pass through their whole life-history on 
living plants, and cannot be cultivated on a dead 
substratum.” The same may be said of the 
Erysipheae, or mildews, though their spores not 
infrequently reach perfection on a dead substratum, 
as do also those of Rhytisma and Polystigma. Ergot 
of grain and the Sclerotinia inhabiting berries are 
truly parasitic, though they may be in some stages 
saprophytically cultivated on dead organisms. 
These may be given as examples of true parasitism. 

Chapter ii. of Dr. von Tubeuf's work is upon 
“Reaction of Host to Parasitic Attack,” and will 
be found of highest 
value to the reader 
interested in mal- 
formations and 
abnormal growths 
among plants. In 
dealing with this 
subject the author 
reminds us _ that 
‘« The reaction of the 
host to the attacks 
of parasitic fungi is 
fairly constant for 
the same host and 
fungus. The various 
fungi, however, exert 
on the same host- 
plant each an influ- 
ence of its own, while 
different host-plants 
behave very differ- 
ently under attacks 
of the same fungus.” 

Among the more 
conspicuous. of 
altered growths 
familiar to most of 
our readers are the 
‘‘ witches’ - brooms,” 
which are composed 
of many thickened 
twigs in bunches on various trees. These are the 
altered growths of the hosts caused by parasitic 
attacks of the fungoid group Exoasceae, of which 
the large genus Evxoascus is typical. One section 
of the species of this genus attack the ovary or 
other part of the fruit, whilst the others attack 
the shoots or twigs. 

We give, by permission of the publishers of the 
English edition of ‘‘ Diseases of Plants,” examples 
of some of the illustrations which are so 
excellent in this fine work. An effective one is 
fig. 265, a scene in the Bavarian Forest, near 
Bischoffsreut showing a living beech-tree with 
sporophores of Polyporus fomentarius. Another is 


2 


292 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


a group of grass infected with rings of Epichloe 
typhina, forming small white cushions on the stems 
so often to be seen on dry downs in England, and 
the ‘‘witches’-broom” on hornbeam (fig. 55), 
caused by Evoascus carpini. 

There is an admirable double index to this book, 
the first part being of parasites and the second of 
host-plants, common names, etc. The whole work 


is well produced and forms a fine addition to the 
botanical literature which should be in every library 
of scientific works. By its aid and inspiration the 
study of plant diseases and the economic bearing 
upon the cultivation of food-stuffs or forest-trees 
will receive an impetus which, doubtless, in time, 
will lead to much saving of present loss to the 
general community. 


PLANTS AND MOSSES IN NORWAY. 


By WILLIAM EDWARD NICHOLSON. 


(Continued from page 268.) 


hee following mosses were gathered during 

the cruise referred to (ante p. 265) in the 
first part of these notes. The nomenclature follows 
in the main that adopted in ‘‘ The Student’s Hand- 
book of British Mosses,” recently published by 
Mr. H. N. Dixon and the Rev. H. G. Jameson, and, 
with regard to a few species which do not occur 
in Britain, that of the second edition of ‘‘ Schimper’s 
Synopsis.” The letters ‘c. fr.” mean that the 
specimens were found in fruit. 

Sphagnum papillosum, Lindb.—Bogs near Odde 
and Molde. S. rigidum, var. compactum, Schp.— 
Common at Vads6é and Elvenes. S. rigidum, var. 
squaryosum, Russ.—Molde, c. fr. S. acutifoliwm.— 
Elvenes, c. fr. S. givgensohnii, Russ.—Horre Pass, 
near Odde. S. lindbergi, Schp.—Very wet bogs; 
Bods, c. fr., Vadsé and Elvenes. This fine species 
varies considerably in colour, the Bodé specimens 
being quite pale, while those from Vadsé are dark 
purplish brown. 

Andreea petrophila, Ehrh.—Rocks, Bodé, Ham- 
merfest and Elvenes, c. fr. A. obovata, Theden.— 
Rocks in a stream, Hammerfest. 

Tetrvaphis pellucida, Hedw.—Rotten birch-stump, 
Elvenes, c.fr. The specimen is covered with 
abundant fruit. 

Oligotrichum incurvum, Lindb.—Abundant on the 
Horre Pass, c. fr. Occurred also in a barren state 
at Vadso. 

Polyivichum alpinum, L.—Common in most places, 
c.fr. P.urnigerum, L.—Elvenes, c. fr. P. stvictum.— 
Bogs, Harstad, c. fr. P. formosum, Hedw.—Near 
Odde, c. fr. 

Ditrichwm tortile, Schrad.—Horre Pass, c. fr. 

Swartzia montana, Lindb.—Crevices in rocks, 
Vadsé, c. fr. S. inclinata, Enrh.— Damp soil, Vadso, 
Care 

Slama cesia, Lindb.—Sides of a cavity in a peat 
bog, Bodé, where the peat had been cut for fuel, 
c. fr. The bluish-green bloom of the leaves of this 
strange little moss at once distinguished it in the 
field. 


Cynodontium polycarpum, Schp.—On a stump, 


Elvenes, c.fr. C. virens, Schp.—Rocks at Bodé and 
Vadsé, c. fr. C. wahlenbergii, R. and C.—Rocks on 
the Tyven, Hammerfest, c. fr. 

Dicranella cerviculata, Schp.—Dry peaty places on 
rocks, Vadsé, c. fr. D. secunda, Lindb.—Common 
on damp soil by the roadside at Elvenes, c. fr. D. 
squarrosa, Schp.— Abundant by streams, Vadsé, 
Bodé, and in the more southern parts of Norway. 

Dicranoweisia crispula, Lindb.—Rocks, Bodé and 
Vadso, c. fr. 

Dicranum falcatum, Hedw.—Rocky ground, Horre 
Pass, c. fr. D. stavkei, W. and M.—Bodé, c. fr. 
D. bergeri, Bland.~Marsh at Elvenes, c. fr. D. 
fuscescens, Turn. — Fir-stump, Molde, c. fr. D. 
montanum, Hedw.—Birch-stump, Elvenes D. 
fragilifoliwm, Lindb. — Common on rotten birch- 
stumps at Elvenes, c. fr. 

Fissidens bryoides, Hedw.—Rocks facing the fiord, 
Vads6, c. fr. F.osmundoides, Hedw.—Rocks, Vadso. 
F. decipiens, De Not.—Wet rocks near Bergen. 

Grimmia apocarpa, Hedw.—Abundant on rocks, 
Vadso and Tromso, c. fr. The var. vivulavis, W. 
and M., occurred in a stream at Elvenes. G. ovata, 
Schwgr.—Rocksin the Nerodal, by Gudvangen, c. fr. 

Rhacomitrium aciculave, Brid.—Common on stones 
in streams and wet rocks, Bergen, Molde and 
Bod, c. fr. R. protensum, Braun.—Horre pass, c. fr. 
R. fasciculave, Schrad.—Rocks near the Lerfoss, 
Trondhjem, c.fr. R. heterostichum, Brid.—Stone 
wall, Tromsé. RR. sudeticum, B. and S.—Rocks 
near Odde, c. fr. R. lanuginosum, Brid.—Abundant 
everywhere, the large grey cushions giving quite a 
character to thelandscapeinsome valleys. Inscram- 
bling among rocks the danger of a fall may often be 
averted by alighting on one of these cushions. 

Hedwigia ciliata, Ehrh.—Rocks, Bodé, c. fr. 

Desmatodon latifolius, Schp.—Crevices of rocks 
near Vadso, c. fr. 

Trichostomum tortuosum, Dixon.—Abundant on 
walls in Tromsé and rocks near Trondhjem.— 
T. fragile, Dixon.—Peaty ground near Vadsé. 

Eucalypta vulgaris, Hedw.—Stony ground, Bodé, 
c. fr. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 293 


Ulota ludwigiit, Brid.—Tree trunks, Nerodal, 
c. fr. U. dvummondi, Brid.—Common on tree- 
trunks at Molde and Trondhjem, c. fr. U. bruchii, 
Hornsch.—Trees near the Lerfoss, Trondhjem, c. fr. 
U. phyllantha, Bruch.—Trees by the shore of the 
fiord at Molde. U. hutchinsie, Hamm.—Rocks 
near Bergen, c. fr. 

Orthotvichum avcticum, Schp.—Abundant on rocks 
on the island opposite Vadsé, c. fr. O. Jleiocarpum, 
B and S.—Trees, Molde, c. fr. O. speciosum, 
Nees.—Trees, especially in very damp and shady 
places; common near the Lerfoss, Trondhjem, c. fr. 
O. tenellum, Bruch.—Ash-trunks, Trondhjem, c. fr. 
O. gymnostomum, Bruch.—Aspen-trunk near the 
Béjum’s Glacier, Mendall, c. fr. 

Splachnum sphericum, L.—Abundant in most of 
the bogs in the North, c. fr. The large tufts have 
often a very pretty appearance from the orange- 
coloured sete, which were frequently very long. 
S. vasculosum, L.—Not uncommon with the last, 
c. fr.; a very large form occurred at Harstad. 

Tetrvaplodon mnioides, B. and S.—Vadsé, Bodé and 
Hammerfest on decaying bones, c. fr. 

Taylovia lingulata, Lindb.—Bogs to the west of 
Vadso, c. fr. 

Meesia trichoides, Spruce.—Common at Vads6 and 
Harstad, c. fr. 

Paludella squarrosa, Brid.—This beautiful moss 
occurred in bogs at Bodé and Vadsé, fruiting rather 
sparingly in the latter place. 

Aulacomnion palustre, Schwgr.—Common in bogs, 
with abundant gemme, and very variable; a form 
from Vadsé6 appears to agree with the var. 
imbricatum, B. and S. 

Conostomum boreale, Swartz.—Drier parts of the 
peat bogs near Vadsi, c. fr. 

Bartvamia ithyphylla, Brid.—Crevices of rocks, 
Vadso and Hammerfest,c. fr. B.pomiformis, Hedw. 
—A very tall form on rocks near Gudvangen, c. fr. 

Philonotis fontana, Brid.—Abundant in marshy 
places, Vads6, Bodé, etc., c. fr. 

Leptobryum pyriforme, Wils.——Common by the 
roadside at Vads6, c. fr. This moss must be able to 
accommodate itself to a great variety of environ- 
ment, as I have seen it luxuriating in an English 
orchid house. 

Webera polymorpha, Schp.—Damp earth by the 
roadside, Vadso,c. fr. W. nutans, Hedw.—Common 
and very variable, oftenon Sphagnum ; Horre Pass, 
Harstad, etc.,c. fr.; the var. bicolor, Schp., occurred 
in marshy ground at Hammerfest. W. annotina, 
Schwgr.—Common on the terminal moraine of the 
Boéjum’s Glacier, Mundal, on a branch of the Sogne 
Fiord, with abundant fruit and gemme. 

Bryum turbinatum, Schwgr., var. schleicheri (?)— 
A moss with a long seta and with the capsule 
contracted below the mouth, but with foliage rather 
like that of B. palleus ; occurredin marshy ground at 
Vads6 and Elvenes, c. fr. B. inteymedium, Brid. 


—Waste ground near Vadsé, c. fr. B. pallescens, 
Schleich.—Peaty ground, Vadso, c. fr. 

Mnium cinclidioides, Hiibn.— Bogs, Bodé and 
Elvenes. M. vostvatum, Schrad.—Marshy ground, 
Vadsé. M. subglobosum, B.and S.—Bogs, Vadsi, c. fr. 

Cuiclidium stygium, Sw.—In scanty patches in the 
bogs near Vadso, c. fr. 

Fontinalis squamosa, L.—A rather delicate form 
was common in a running stream at Elvenes. 

Antitrichia curtipendula, Brid.—Rocks near Fantoflt, 
Bergen. 

Leskea nervosa, Myrin.—Rocks at Vadsé and 
Tromso. 

Pseudoleskea atrovirens, B. and S.—Rocks, Vadso. 

Climacium dendvoides, W.and M. Abundant, but 
barren, in many places; principally in the southern 
parts of Norway by streams. A very dwarfed form 
occurred at Vadso. 

Lescurea striata, var. saxicola, Band S.—Not un- 
common on loose stone walls on the route to Odde. 

Brachythecium rvivulare, B. and S. — Bogs near 
Vads6; a rather pale yellowish form. B. glaciale, 
B. and S.—-Rocky ground near Tromso. 

Eurhynchium teesdalei, Schp.— Base of a rotten 
birch-stump, Elvenes, c. fr. 

Plagiothecium pulchellum, B.and S.—Rocks, Vads6, 
c. fr. P. strviatellum, Lindb.—Rotten trunk of a fir, 
Molde, c. fr. The capsules are only very slightly 
striate, but the leaves have the conspicuous hyaline 
auricles characteristic of this species. 

P. denticulatum, B. and S.—Stumps near the 
Lerfoss, Trondhjem, c. fr. P.letum, Schp.—Rotten 
birch-stump, Elvenes, c. fr. 

Aniblystegium servpens, B. and S.—Stumps, Elvenes, 
G, ibe. 

Hypnum fiuitans, L.—Bog, Harstad. HA. exannu- 
latum, var. purpurascens, Schp.—Marsh, Horre Pass, 
c. fr. The var. stenophyllum, Wils., occurred at 
Vadsé. H. uncinatum, Hedw.—Bogs, Bodé and 
Molde, c. fr. H. rvevolvens, Sw.—Very common in 
bogs at Elvenes, c. fr., with the var. cossoni, Ren. 
H. commutatum, Hedw.— Bog at Bodo, e¢. fr. H. 
palustre, L.—Stones by a stream, Marstade ce ine 
H. alpestve, Sw.—Stream, Elvenes, c. fr. H. dilata- 
tum, Wils——By a waterfall, Mundal, c. fr. dH. 
scorpioides, L.—Common in bogs at Elvenes and 
Bodé. The specimens from Elvenes are green, 
while those from Bod are of a dull purplish colour. 
H. trifavium, W. and M.—Bogs, Vadsé, not un- 
common. UH. cordifolium, Hedw.—Elvenes. 4H. 
giganteum, Schp.—Common in a bog at Harstad. 
H. sayvmentosum, Wahl.—Rather common in bogs 
at Vadsé and Elvenes, c. fr. A dark-purplish, 
almost black, form of this moss occurred at Vadsé. 

Hylocomium splendens, B. and S.—Abundant in 
woods near Trondhjem, c. fr. H. Joveuwm, B. andS. 
—Very common in a fir wood near the Lerfoss, 
Trondhjem, c. fr. 

Lewes; February 3rd, 1897. 


294 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


A EGE DP ee aes 


By RosBeErtT GODFREY. 


S we trip gaily along over the heather and 
through the brackens that adorn the sides 
of our Pentland hill streams, following their zigzag 
course, we have a more or less constant companion- 
ship with the characteristic bird of our burns, 
the dipper (Cinclus aquaticus). He usually awaits 
the traveller’s approach before darting from his 
retreat beneath the bank, or his perch on a rock, 
and, with a merry ‘‘ching-ching,”’ he flies close to 
the surface, and, plunging into the water just short 
of a stone, swims towards it. There he bobs up 
and down and looks in turn to all the points of the 
compass, displaying at one time his dark back, at 
another his white breast. He advances before us 
by short flights from stone to stone, sometimes 
entering the water and disappearing beneath the 
surface for a moment, then rising and swimming 
to the next stone, and eventually, taking a long 
flight to be rid of our disturbing presence, 
disappears behind a bend in the stream. We 
follow on cautiously and carefully, and find him 
perched on a stone up stream, far enough off to 
consider himseli safe. He is preening himself after 
his morning’s operations, and, having finished this 
duty, he rests in peace by the bank. We watch 
him through our glass, and see his white eyelid 
appearing regularly as a glittering mark on his ash- 
coloured head. But our patience is tried sorely as 
we continue to wait his pleasure. 

After a long idle halt he resumes his hunt for 
food, and, crouching amongst the pebbles by the 
side of the stream, he picks slowly, with many 
inquisitive glances before him. Leisurely he walks 
on the bottom, and keeps bobbing gently, though 
restlessly. His head is lowered, and now he stands 
up to the body in the water. At each thrust 
of his beak amongst the pebbles or sand he sends 
a few drops of water into the air, and, when he 
passes beyond his depth, he swims across the little 
pool to the shallows on its opposite edge and picks 
around the bases of the larger stones, or mounts 
them, to secure food from their exposed surfaces. 
He knows well where the animal life is concealed, 
and, moving along through the water, inserts 
his beak beneath the smaller stones and by a 
sudden jerk turns them over, quickly seizing the 
tiny creatures so exposed. Considering his size 
he turns over large stones, but has of course an 
advantage in the water by means of which the 
weight of the stone is decreased, and when he 
finds one that resists his efforts he does not delay 
beside it but passes on. He feeds chiefly in the 
shallower parts of the stream, but is an adept 
at securing food in deeper water also, and he often 


proceeds along the burn by a series of dives and 
short flights. From a stone he plunges into the 
water, wriggling greatly as he enters, as if flying 
under though also struggling against the current ; 
shortly afterwards he reappears, and after a short 
swim wriggles under again. Whilst feeding he 
keeps silence; but when approached too closely he 
ceases to feed, and, after bobbing repeatedly to us, 
flies off with a cheery call. 

The dipper sings throughout the year, but his 
song always seems more beautiful in the winter 
months, as then it has few rival productions to 
cope with. The dipper is no high-class musician, 
but dearly he loves to sing his rough clinking 
notes, with their occasional thrill, to himself; he 
cares not though no listener be at hand to hear, 
and when his mate is brooding over her eggs he 
sits beneath the bank of the stream and delivers his 
strain to the moorland waste. Often when winging 
his way along the stream he will alight on the 
grassy bank or on a stone and raise his head to 
sing. The beauty of the song is greatly enhanced 
by the solitude where it is delivered ; it is one of 
the characteristic moorland sounds. Splendid, 
however, as his song is in his loneliness, when he 
sings to himself and unknowingly cheers the 
wanderer, it lacks the power and the tenderness 
imparted to it when the bird sings in the presence 
of hismate. Then he becomes entirely oblivious 
of everything and falls into an ecstasy. No other 
British songster known to me is so overpowered by 
his song, none so loses possession of himself as he 
does. I have watched him on a tree-stump become 
suddenly enraptured on the approach of his mate ; 
he stretches his neck and opens his wings in the 
attitude of a young bird about to be fed, and 
now he stands erect and flutters his wings 
continually, yea, he shivers all over as he sings 
boldly and cheerily in the frosty air, How simple, 
how happy their joy! She listens attentively to 
the happy strain, and bobs up and down in glee, 
actually seeming to dance to the music; but she 
likes not our presence and fears for her companion’s 
safety. She approaches nearer till she actually 
seems to dislodge him from his perch, and the two 
fond lovers fly together down the swollen stream, 
‘‘ching-ing’’ continuously as they fly. How the 
mouataineer’s heart thrills with joy when he hears 
the ringing sound break the silence of the snow- 
clad hills, and when he thinks of one little songster 
at least rejoicing in the cold. , 

During the nesting-season each pair of dippers 
seems to have their own territory, to which they 
restrict themselves. When a stream flows through 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


along hollow and receives many small tributaries we 
generally find one pair of birds on every streamlet, 
whose nesting-ground is commonly near the junc- 
tion with the larger water, and on the main stream 
itself we find pairs of birds established at’ short 
intervals. The birds begin to build early, and year 
after year they frequent the same locality, not 
necessarily choosing the same site, but settling at 
least in some spot near the old haunt. Wherever 
a stream forms a waterfall a pair of dippers will 
settle there, and, if undisturbed, remain year after 
year. Over the largest pool in the best waterfall 
of the Pentlands there is one such constantly 
occupied site, and the nest is entirely safe, except 
from such foul processes as stone-throwing; and 
other frequented waterfalls on the same hills are 
known to me, Bridges also afford a great attrac- 
tion, and there are several, over which high-roads 
as well as private paths run, yearly tenanted. 
Many varying positions, however, are chosen by the 
birds—amongst the rocks, by the edge of the water, 
or beneath the bank. At one time the nest is 
fastened to the top of a small bridge, at another 
hidden at the further end of a hole in the masonry ; 
now we see it attached to a conspicuous stone 
overhanging the water, and again, by seeing the 
bird fly towards it, we observe it carefully screened 
beneath a ledge of rock about twenty feet from 
the level of the bank and at some distance from 
the water. 

When placed in an exposed position, as, for 
example, amongst rocks, it is firmly made of moss ; 
but when built in a sheltered site, as in a hole, it is 
less firm. The nest proper is made of hay, witha 
thick lining of beech-leaves. This, however, is 
always placed under a dome. In the case of a 
natural dome the bird may rest content with its 
simple form of nest, and in one such instance 
which came under my observation a pair of grey 
wagtails occupied the same spot after the dippers 
had left it. Far oftener, however, the nest is 
placed in an open site, and then a closely-woven 
dome of hay and moss wholly covers it, the dome 
being the first-formed portion of the nest. It 
harmonises well with its surroundings, or else 
appears as a heap of rubbish casually blown 
together ; and as, moreover, the entrance of the nest 
is completely hidden from view, unless we look up 
at it from beneath, it is easily passed over by those 
unacquainted with itsnature. The eggs—pinkish- 
white owing to the yolk showing through the 
delicate shell, but pure white when blown or hard- 
sat—-are laid at the end of March and beginning of 
April. Till the full number, five or six, has been 
deposited, the birds keep at a respectful distance 
from their abode, but as soon as the hen begins to 
sit she broods closely and does not often reveal 
her nest by flying out. It is an easy matter to 
catch a dipper on its nest, but it is needless cruelty 


295 


todoso. I have seen another act thus, and could 
repeatedly, had I been so inclined, have done the 
like; but I have contented myself with admiring 
the confiding bird. She bears the scrutiny well, 
as she sits with her bill projecting down towards 
us and her dark eyes gazing upon us with a look 
that seems to indicate that she will not move from 
her post till forced, the white-breasted bird 
appearing through the circular hole like a picture 
set in a frame. When the dipper flies suddenly 
out of her nest she usually, from its shape and its 
proximity to the stream, tumbles into the water 
before she can get rightly on the wing. I have 
known a case where a dipper laid in the same nest 
after its first eggs had been taken. 

When the young birds are fully fledged they 
will, on being disturbed, fly out and fall into the 
water. When first I was the means of unwittingly 
causing this action I was much perplexed about 
the youngsters, fearing they would be drowned ; 
but when on a subsequent occasion, with the full 
knowledge of what would at once happen, I inserted 
my finger into a nest containing ripe young I was 
under no excitement and ready to watch their 
movements. The birds were looking down the 
hole, and on being disturbed fluttered to the 
water, then along its surface, down stream, ‘‘ching- 
ing” as they went. By short flights, such as they 
were capable of, and by swimming during the rest 
of the excursion, they soon disappeared. Some- 
times they seemed to be overcome by the current 
and to be driven on helplessly beneath the surface, 
but they ever again emerged to hurry onwards. On 
finding places of hiding they ceased crying and 
remained quietly in the nook they had discovered. 
Further down the burn, however, I was informed 
by cries that one of them was still afloat. It sank 
to the bottom, then rose again and swam onwards, 
using its wings to aid it, and finally coming to a 
halt on a stone that did not project above the water. 
I passed it, and at once it swam up stream against 
the current, till it found a convenient bank beneath 
which to hide. From this it may be judged how 
well these birds can perform the duties necessary in 
after life, when, on being suddenly called upon to 
do so without any previous practice, they show 
themselves to be such adepts both on and under 
the water. 

46, Cumberland Street, Edinburgh ; 
February gth, 1897. 

ErRATUM.—Ante page 242, col. 2, line 28, after ‘pine 
needles,” read—“ which usually fills up old crows’ nests 
removed.’—R. G, 


AppiTIoNs To BritisH Mottusca.—The “ Journal 
of Conchology"’ is publishing a valuable list of the 
additions to the conchological fauna since the 
appearance of ‘ British Conchology.” The new 
list has been prepared by Mr. J. T. Marshall, whose 
notes should be read in connection with the older 
work. 


296 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 


(Continued from page 278.) 


GEOGRAPHICAL. 


i rae Report treats the subject from the geo- 
graphical point of view thus: 


‘* Geneval.—In passing from their summer to their 
winter haunts, birds proceed from a northern to 
a southern clime, and vice versé inthe spring. It 
does not at all follow, however, that these seasonal 
haunts are reached by a single movement from 
north to south, or the reverse. Each species or 
individual of migratory bird has its particular 
summer and winter resorts, and these do not 
necessarily lie in the same meridian—indeed this is 
often far from being the case. To attain these 
particular seasonal habitats many of the voyagers 
must depart more or less considerably from a direct 
course. This is especially the case in western 
Europe, where, owing to the south-western extension 
of the land-masses, and the consequent irregularity 
of the coast-line, various more or less devious 
routes must be and are followed. The interposition 
of the British Islands between the north-western 
portion of the Continental area on the one hand 
and Iceland and Greenland on the other is an 
important additional factor in this deviation. . . 

‘“‘ The chief and most interesting movements from 
the geographical standpoint are the intermigrations 
between our islands and Europe. There are, 
however, a number of movements between the 
various sections of the British and Irish areas 
which are of considerable importance. ; 

“* Intermigration between Britain and Northern 
Continental Euvope.—Between Britain and Conti- 
nental Europe travel a host of migrants which are 
either birds of passage on, or winter visitors to, our 
shores. The former visit our eastern coast-line in 
spring when journeying to their northern summer 
haunts lying to the north-east of Britain, and 
again in autumn when returning to their winter 
quarters to the south of our islands. The winter 
visitors are chiefly individuals from the ranks of 
certain species of the birds of passage which 
winter in the British area and emigrate to the 
north-east in the spring. 

“In the autumn these numerous migrants cross 
the North Sea and arrive on the east shores of 
Britain at points between the Shetland Isles and 
the Humber or the northern seaboard of Norfolk. 
All the movements do not necessarily cover this 
extensive stretch of coast-line, but such is not in- 
frequently the case. Indeed, as a rule, they are 
recorded from the greater part of the region 
indicated. It is possible to define the southern 
limit on the coast at which these birds strike 
Britain with a considerable degree of precision. 
No section of the British coast is so well equipped 
with light-stations as that which lies between the 
north coast of Norfolk and Dungeness. Inaddition 
to an average number of lighthouses there is a fleet 
of lightships off the coast which are most favour- 
ably situated for recording the movements of birds 
crossing the North Sea to the English coast. These 
lightships have furnished the Committee with some 
of the most. carefully kept records to be found 
among the returns, and it is a very significant fact 
that these great autumn immigratory movements 
are not observed at these south-eastern lighthouses 
and lightships, Evidence of a particularly impor- 


tant nature in this connection is also afforded by 
the records kept at the Outer Dowsing Lightship, 
the most isolated of the stations in the North Sea, 
situated about thirty-eight miles east-south-east of 
the mouth of the Humber. At this station these 
important movements are not observed, another 
significant fact, indicating unmistakably that these 
migrants pass to the northward or westward of this 
lightship. 

“The conclusion at which I have arrived, after a 
long and careful study of the records, is that these 
immigrants and emigrants from and to Northern 
Europe pass and repass between this portion of the 
Continent and Britain by crossing the North Sea 
in autumn in a south-westerly direction, and in 
spring in a north-easterly one, and that while the 
limit to their flight in the north is the Shetland 
Islands, that on the south extends to the coast 
of Norfolk. (1) During these movements the More 
southern portion of the east coast of England is 
reached after the arrival of the immigrants on the 
more northern portions. 

“Tt is to be remarked also, as bearing upon this 
important point, that all the species occur on 
migration in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, but 
not in the Fzroes. And, further, a// the British 
birds of passage to Northern Europe are either 
summer visitors to Scandinavia or are regular mi- 
grants along the western shores of that peninsula. 

« After arriving on our eastern shores, these 
immigrants from the north—some of them after 
resting for a while—move either down the east 
coast, en voute for more southern winter quarters, 
or, if winter visitors, to their accustomed haunts in 
Britain and Ireland. A few occur as birds of 
passage on the west coast and in Ireland, which 
they reach by overland routes across Britain, and 
then pass southwards to their winter quarters. 
The west coasts, however, do not receive directly any 
immigrants from Continental Europe. 

““Intermigration between the South-east Coast of 
England and the Coast of Western Euvope.— East and 
West Route.’—This is one of the discoveries of the 
inquiry. It has been already shown that the more 
southern section of the east coast of England does 
not receive immigrants direct from Northern Europe. 
There is, however, a considerable amount of migra- 
tion of a particular description, and on the part of 
certain species, observed at the lightships and 
lighthouses between the Kentish Coast and the 
Wash. During the autumn, day after day, a 
stream of migrants, often of great volume, is 
observed off the coast, flowing chiefly from the 
south-east to the north-west at the more northerly 
stations, and from east to west at the southerly 
ones, across the southernmost waters of the North 
Sea. This will be hereafter mentioned as the 
‘East and West Route.’ From the stations off the 
mouth of the Thames as a centre, the birds either 
sweep up the east coast, sometimes to and beyond 
the Tees (many proceeding inland as they go), or 
pass to the west along the southern shores of 


(1) The formation adopted by the migrants during passage 
would seem to be an extended line—perhaps a series of lines 
—whose right wing extends tothe northern islands and its left 
wing to the coast of Norfolk.” 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


England. These important immigrations set in 
during the latter days of September, reach their 
maximum in October, and continue at intervals 
until November. They are chronicled with wonder- 
ful precision and regularity in the returns from the 
stations on the south-east coast of England. They 
are renewed during winter on occasions of excep- 
tionally severe cold, but the birds then pass to the 
westward along our southern shores. 

‘There are some remarkable features associated 
with these movements: (1) They are frequently 
observed for several or many consecutive days; 
(2) they often occur when there is an almost entire 
absence of bird-migration on other parts of our 
shores ; (3) the movements appear to be entirely 
confined to the daytime, and are usually timed as 
from soon after daylight to 1 p.m., sometimes 
until 3 p.m.—this being probably due to, and 
indicative of, the shortness of the passage ; (4) the 
autumn migratory flocks are chiefly composed of 
larks in vast numbers; ‘black crows’ (rooks), 
very Many; grey crows, many; also numerous 
redbreasts, goldcrests, chaffinches, greenfinches, 
tree-sparrows, swallows, starlings, and occasion- 
ally woodcocks; and, during the winter, larks, 
various thrushes and lapwings; (5) and lastly, 
on certain occasions these immigrants, while pass- 
ing northward along the English eastern seaboard, 
actually cross the movements of ‘coasting’ 
emigrants proceeding southwards. (1) 

‘Whether this east to west stream is a branch 
of one that passes down the coast of Continental 
Europe, or whether it has its source in Central 
Europe, is a matter of conjecture. (?) 


“Tnteymigvation between Heligoland and Britain.— 
Much prominence has been given in some of the 
Annual Reports issued by the Committee, and in 
Herr Gitke’s book, ‘Die Vogelwarte Helgoland,’ 
to an intermigration between Heligoland and the 
east coast of England by a direct east-to-west 
autumn and, it is to be presumed, west-to-east 
spring movement. Herr Gatke most obligingly 
communicated the details of the bird-movements 
observed on Heligoland for four of the years 
(1883-86) during which the inquiry was being 
prosecuted over the British area. These two sets 
of data have been carefully examined and com- 
compared, and it has been found that the dates of 
the chief movements of the species common to 
Heligoland and Eastern Britain seldom if ever 
correspond, and do not bear out this theory ; that 
particular species which are irregular as migrants 
in Britain, such as the ortolan bunting and 
others, occur regularly, often indeed in ‘rushes’ 
at the more favoured isle off the mouth of the Elbe ; 
that other species which are very rare on our 
British Isles occur in Heligoland as_ regular 
migrants and in considerable numbers, as Motacilla 
flava, Anthus vichardi, etc.; while species common 
to both islands occur in ‘flights like clouds,’ in 
‘hundreds of thousands,’ ‘thousands upon 
thousands,’ in ‘marvellous numbers,’ ‘astonishing 
flights,’ and so on, at Heligoland, at periods when 
there is not a single observation for the same 


“(1) It is probable that such species as the golden oriole, 
hoopoe, etc., which occur annually during spring and autumn 
migration in southern and south-eastern England, and the 
black redstart as a winter visitor, are birds that proceed 
along this route to and from our islands.” 


“«(2) There are no essentially northern species recorded for 
this route, and the occurrence of the rook so frequently and 
in such numbers is suggestive of a Central (western) 
European source.” 


297 


species on the English shores. A study of the 
phenomena of migration at the stations on the east 
and west sides of the North Sea compels the 
investigator to come to the conclusion that 
Heligoland and Britain draw their migratory hosts 
from different sources. : 

“ Intermigvation between Britain and Favoes, Iceland 
and Greenland.—The Faroes, Iceland and Green- 
land, are the summer home of several Palzarctic 
species which occur as birds of passage on the 
British coasts. The majority of these visit Iceland, 
and Greenland claims only two or three of them 
(wheatear, white wagtail and whimbrel). It is 
natural that these birds being of strictly Old 
World species, our islands should lie in the course 
of their migrations. It is quite possible that these 
migrants may pass along both the eastern and 
western coasts of Britain and the coasts of Ireland. 
Here, at any rate, we have evidence that these 
birds are observed on passage on our western 
shores. It may be that some of the birds proceed 
also along our eastern seaboard, but this is a point 
difficult to determine. There is good evidence, 
however, that important movements of redwings, 
wheatears and whimbrels are observed on the 
western coast of Great Britain and the Irish 
coasts (both east and west as regards the passage 
of the whimbrel) which are not observed else- 
where. Such a fact points to the independent 
nature of these west-coast flights, and indicates 
that, in some instances at least, the western route 
alone is followed. 

‘‘Tt is thus evident that, so far as concerns the 
movements of the birds of passage to and from 
their northern breeding haunts, the British east and 
west coast migratory movements are very distinct 
in their characters. The west coast does not receive 
immigrants direct from Europe, nor do these 
Continental breeding species depart from its shores 
in the spring. Indeed, it is quite remarkable how 
rare, or comparatively rare, certain well-known 
east-coast species are on the western points of our 
shores. 

““ Intermigvation between Great Britain and Ireland 
and the South, etc.—Having shortly described the 
migratory movements between the British Islands 
and Northern and Western Europe, undertaken by 
birds of passage and winter visitors to our Islands, 
the routes on our coasts along which the summer 
visitors travel to and from their breeding quarters 
in Great Britain and Ireland now demand attention 
in their geographical aspect. It will be convenient 
also to refer to the routes between the different 
portions of the British area under this division. 

“The autumn or emigratory movements will be 
described—but it is necessary to remark that the 
data clearly indicate that the spring migratory 
movements along our western shores are simply 
return movements on the part of the same species 
along the same lines of flight as those laid down 
for the autumn. 

‘‘The movements of these groups of migrants 
will be treated of under the various sections of our 
coasts. The first movement on the part of all 
emigrants among British birds is to the coast, 
which is reached in some cases, no doubt, by 
particular inland routes. 

“East Coast of Great Britain —The emigratory 
movements on the east coast are very simple in 
their geographical aspect. When the coast is 
reached, the emigrants follow the coastline south- 
ward, gathering strength as they go, and finally 
quit our shores at various points on the south 
coast of England. 


M 3 


298 


“Tt is during such autumnal movements that 
the more southern coastline of Eastern England 
and its off-shore fleet of lightships record night 
migration. The ranks of the British emigrants 
are, as we have said, recruited as they fly onward, 
and if a great movement should be in progress 
the causing-influence will affect also many birds 
of passage which may be sojourning on our shores. 
Two wings of the migratory army thus combine, 
and a great ‘rush’ to the south is the result. 

‘West Coast of Great Britain——The emigratory 
movements which pass down the west coast are 
far from being so simple in their geographical 
details as those observed on the east. 

“That such should be the case is not surprising. 
Here we have Ireland, the Isle of Man, the 
Hebrides, and an extremely irregular coastline 
exercising their varied influences. In addition, 
there are intermigrations between these off-lying 
isles and the mainland, and often movements of an 
independent nature in some portion of the western 
area. 

“The general route followed by these departing 
birds has its north-western source in the Outer 
Hebrides, and after leaving Barra Head it joins an 
important stream from the Inner Hebrides at 
Skerryvore. The course then followed is vid 
Dhuheartach, Islay, the Wigtonshire coast, the 
Isle of Man, Anglesey, and the South Bishop (off 
Pembrokeshire). Finally, the south-western coast 
of England is reached (possibly in part by an over- 
land route across Devonshire and Cornwall) 
between the Scilly Islands and Start Point. 


. 


«Tn connection with these movements there are 
several more or less important features to note. 
(1) The English shores of the Irish Sea, 7.e. the 
coasts of Cumberland and Lancashire, lie off 
the main line of these movements. (2) The north 
coast of Ireland, which seems to lie right in the 
course of the birds and which would naturally be 
expected to come in fora considerable share of such 
movements, appears to be only occasionally affected 
by them. (3) The Irish contributory movements 
when they occur are chiefly, nay almost entirely, 
observed on the southern, and especially on the 
south-eastern, coasts. (4) The south-western coast 
of England and Wales—i.e. from the mouth of the 
Bristol Channel tothe Land’s End and the Scilly 
Isles—appears to be especially affected when there 
are considerable movements on the southern and 
south-eastern coasts of Ireland, implying that there 
is much intermigration between these particular 
portions of the English and Irish coasts. Some- 
times, however, these emigrations from Ireland 
only affect the south-west coast of England from 
the Bishop’s Rock (off Scilly) to Start Point. 

“‘ Tyish Coasts.—The Irish chronicles have been 
most excellently and carefully kept, and the returns 
of specimens killed against the lanterns at the 
stations have been larger and more valuable than 
those furnished from the coasts of Great Britain. 
The coasts of Ireland do not constitute in them- 
selves a main highway for birds, though . . . 
the majority of the migrants observed on the shores 
of the sister isle are probably the migratory 
members of her own avifauna. The movements 
of departing birds during the autumn at the 
southern and south-eastern stations occur 
simultaneously with similar movements passing 
down the western coast of Great Britain, and the 
two streams meet and unite at points between the 
Bristol Channel and the Scilly Isles. Some of the 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Irish autumnal flights, however, are quite indepen- 
dent of these general movements. 

‘‘There is much evidence to show that not only 
do the autumnal emigrants depart from the south- 
east coast of Ireland en voute for more southern 
winter-quarters, but also, strange to say, that many 
birds (¢.g., thrushes, redwings, blackbirds, chaf- 
finches, greenfinches, linnets, starlings, larks) 
almost simultaneously entey that county by this 
very same Section of her shores, in order to winter 
within her limits. These immigrants are often 
observed arriving from the south-east in great 
numbers for several days in succession. The 
English west coast observations also bear evidence 
that such movements proceed across St. George’s 
Channel in a north-westerly direction. These 
cross-channel flights are usually observed during 
the daytime, but sometimes the arrival of certain of 
these birds on the Irish coast takes place during 
the night. Independently of and in addi- 
tion to these main Irish migratory movements, 
thrushes, larks and starlings occur in October 
and November on the northern coasts of Ireland, 
from Tory Island to the Maidens, as immigrants 
from Scotland. _ These are to be correlated with 
movements of the same species observed at the 
Rhinns of Islay and the Wigton coast. Larks, 
too, are often recorded for this route during the 
daytime. There are also autumnal movements 
between Ireland and England and Wales by an 
east-to-west flight across the Irish Sea, on the part 
of starlings, chaffinches, greenfinches, larks, and 
sometimes of various species of thrushes. Anglesey 
is the chief Welsh point, and Rockabill (off the 
north coast of Co. Dublin) the main Irish station 
at which these departures and arrivals are ob- 
served. The migratory movements observed on 
the west coast of Ireland are neither many nor 
important. . . . 

‘“South Coast of England—It is much to be 
regretted that observations relating to the migra- 
tions of birds on the southern coast of England as 
a whole where not obtained by the Committee. 
The data bearing upon this important English 
coast-line are from a few stations on the south- 
eastern and south-western portions only. This 
information points to (1) a considerable amount of 
migration taking place between these portions of 
the coast-line and South-western Europe, and (2) 
important movements passing along the entire coast- 
line from east to west in autumn and probably 
vice versd in spring. The south coast is naturally 
the great scene of the arrival and departure of 
migratory birds of all descriptions, but the move- 
ments along shore are, perhaps, in some of their 
aspects, more interesting. Regarding these last, 
much remains to be ascertained concerning their 
precise nature and the destination of some of the 
birds travelling along this route. 

‘‘In the autumn this coasting stream of birds 
has its source chiefly in the immigratory move- 
ments from the Continent across the southern 
waters of the North Sea by the East and West 
Route, of which it is but a continuation. It is 
possible also that British emigrants after passing 
down the east coast of England may turn to the 
westward and skirt the south coast, but this is not 
shown with certainty. The Continental immi- 
grants strike the Kentish shore, and, as has been 
already stated, some pass to the north along the 
east coast of England, while others pursue a 
westerly course along our shores of the channel. 
The stations on the south-western coast again 
record these migrants, and the probable destination 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP, 


of many, perhaps most of them, is Ireland, on 
whose south-eastern shores the birds are chronicled, 
almost simultaneously, as arriving in great numbers 
from the south-east. 


. 


“The great autumnal movements from east to 
west along the south coast of England are renewed 
in winter, when that season is characterized by 
periods of unusualcold. At such timesit is possible 
that this western stream is composed in part of 
native emigrants which have passed down our 
eastern coasts, as well as of birds of continental 
origin. 

“Channel Islands.—Records from the Hanois 
Lighthouse, situated some two miles off the west 
coast of Guernsey, were furnished for each of the 
years of the enquiry, and afford some useful 
information. These, when compared with the 
English and Irish chronicles, show that on nearly 
every occasion on which considerable migration 
was observed at this station in the autumn, there 
was also much emigration going on practically 
simultaneously on the south-west coast of 
England. It is necessary, however, to state that 
a number of important movements on the south- 
west coast of England do not appear in the records 
for Hanois, indicating, perhaps, that many move- 
ments to the south in autumn and to the north in 
spring pass to the westward of this station. In the 
spring, swallows are observed passing to both the 
north-east and north-west in great numbers during 
April and May, and a number of other summer 
birds are recorded on passage. 


‘“ SEASONAL. 


‘“The seasonal section of the Report is readily 
subdivided for treatment in autumn, winter and 
spring. In the autumn the birds, when 
they appear on our shores, have accomplished the 
great business of the year— procreation. Food 
is still abundant in their favourite resting-haunts, 
and hence there is no particular hurry to move 
southwards. Thus many species tarry on our 
coasts or in their vicinity, some for a considerable 
period. Their numbers are, of course, incom- 
parably greater than during the northward journey, 
as they are swelled by the numerous young birds, 
now a few weeks old. All these circumstances and 
conditions combine to make the autumn move- 
ments-comparatively easy of observation. 

“Tn spring the conditions are quite different. 
The all-absorbing duties of the season and the 
procreative influence are upon the voyagers, and 
since our islands form one of the last stages in 
the journey of many species, the birds usually 
hurry on after a short sojourn for rest and food. 
All that it is necessary to say here regarding the 
winter movements is that they are entirely the 
effect of severe weather. 

“Autumn Immigration As the summer, more 
particularly the Arctic summer, is at its height 
during July, it is not to be expected that immi- 
grants among the northern summer-birds would 
appear on our shores on their return journey during 
this month. The initial movements of the autumn, 
whatever their significance may be, do, as a matter 
of fact, set in towards the end of July. Of the 
species observed, the whimbrel and the knot are 
the most frequently recorded. The green sand- 
piper, curlew sandpiper, bar-tailed godwit and 
turnstone are less frequent. A few others appear 
only occasionally in the chronicles of the month. 


299 


In all probability these July immigrants, or the 
majority of them, are non-breeding birds of their 
respective species, which have not, perhaps, pro- 
ceeded far beyond the limits of Britain on their 
spring journey northward. That such is the case 
is borne out by the fact that these July birds are 
all, so far as reported, adults. Immigration sets 
in in earnest during August on the part of those 
species breeding northwards beyond the British 
area, and either occurring as birds of passage or as 
winter visitors to our isles. The former include 
the northern representatives of several species 
which are summer visitors to Britain. The return 
movements of twenty-six species of birds whose 
summer haunts lie entirely beyond the British area 
are chronicled for the month. During September 
a marked increase in immigration takes place as 
regards both species and more especially indivi- 
duals. In all, over forty species of European birds 
which do not summer in Britain are recorded as 
migrants for September, including all the species 
regularly recorded for August. In some years 
(1881 and 1883) there have occurred in September 
the first of the great autumnal ‘rushes’ of im- 
migrants from the north to our shores. These 
decided movements are, however, entirely the effect 
of meteorological conditions at the seat of emigra- 
tion, of which special mention is presently to be 
made in the Meteorological Section. In October 
the flood of immigratory birds reaches its highest 
level, and there are experienced those vast 
‘rushes’ upon our shores just mentioned. The 
additions to the list of extra-British breeding 
species are comparatively numerous, forty-seven 
species of regular birds of passage, besides many 
other birds breeding in both northern Europe 
and Britain, being recorded. The immi- 
gratory movements occurring in November are 
not only on a very much reduced scale, but 
after the middle of the month the immigration of such 
birds as spend the summer in the north entirely ceases, 
with the exception of those of certain marine 
species (ducks, gulls, grebes, swans) whose late 
movements to the south are dependent upon 
severe weather conditions. This is entirely 
contrary to the views hitherto propounded regarding 
the limits of these movements, but it is, nevertheless, 
a fact well established by this inquiry. . . . 
The immigrants hitherto considered are those 
derived from the north. There now remain for 
treatment those which reach us by a westerly 
movement along the east and west route, and arrive 
on the south-eastern shores of England. These 
diurnal movements set in during the latter days of 
September, when larks, ‘crows’ (rooks), tree- 
sparrows and some redbreasts are observed. 
Immigration increases in volume in October, when 
in addition to the species mentioned, blackbirds, 
thrushes, grey crows, chaffinches, greenfinches, 
goldcrests and, occasionally, woodcocks are 
observed. The movements continue until the 
middle of November, when they too, during 
ordinary seasons, cease to be observed. They are 
renewed again, however, on the part of larks, 
starlings, thrushes and lapwings on the advent of 
great cold, when the birds chiefly pass westwards 
along the south coast of England. 

‘‘ During immigration our shores are reached 
during the late night or early morning on the part of 
migrants from the north. On the contrary, the 
immigratory movements from the east, across the 
narrows of the North Sea, appear to be performed 
during the daytime. 

(To be continued, 


M 4 


300 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ARITA DURE “OF Snr i COMMiye AND SEGE ees; 


WitH A NEw SECTION OF PLECTOPYLIS. 


By G. K. Gupe, F.Z.S. 


(Continued from page 276.) 


Bae resuming the consideration of other 

Burmese and Indian species of Plectopylis, I 
will deal with a small section of the genus 
characterized by a thin and transparent shell 
and a peristome with straight, acute edges. 
Two species only have hitherto been known, 
P. clathvatula, from Ceylon, and P. vetifeyva, from 
India; but a third undescribed form, also from 
India, has been communicated to me by Colonel 
Beddome : two species from Ceylon, described and 
figured by Dr. F. Jousseaume in the ‘‘ Memoires de 
la Société Zoologique de France,” vii. (1894), 
Pp. 277 and 278, t. 4, ff. 1 and 8, have been referred 
by him to Plectopylis, and, if correctly thus referred, 
they will doubtless be found to belong to this 
section, for which I propose the name Austenia, in 


Fig. 42.—Plectopylis clathratula. 


honour of Lieut.-Colonel Godwin-Austen, who has 
contributed so largely to our knowledge of the 
genus. 

Plectopylis clathvatula (figs. 42a-d), from Ceylon, 
was described by Dr. Pfeiffer in the ‘‘ Zeitschrift 
fiir Malakozoologie,” vii., (1850), p. 67. It 
was figured in Reeve’s ‘‘Conchologia Iconica,’’ 
t. 65, f. 336 (1852), in Martini und Chemnitz’s 
‘“Conchylien Cabinet,” 2nd ed., iii., t. 127, 
ff. 17-20 (1853), and in Hanley and Theobald’s 
“‘Conchologia Indica,” t. 132, ff. 1-4 (1875). Mr. 
Benson described what he thought was a new 
species, under the name of Helix puteola, in the 
‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History ”’ (2), 
xll. (1853), p. 92, but he subsequently pointed out 
its identity with Dr. Pfeiffer’s species (loc. cit. (3), 
v. (1860), p. 247). It was also figured under Mr. 
Benson’s name by Reeve, op. cit., t. 190, f. 1334 (1854). 
Mr. G. Nevill(Hand List, p. 70) records P. clathvatula, 
as in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, from Balapiat, 
Sikkim ; but I doubt the correctness of the identifica- 
tion of the specimens referred to and think they will 
probably proveto belong to the new species to be de- 
scribed in the nextarticle as Plectopylis clathratuloides. 


As the armature of Plectopylis clathratula has never 
been figured, I am pleased to have an opportunity 
of illustrating it. The shell is somewhat lenticular, 
widely umbilicated, pale corneous, transparent, 
showing the palatal armature distinctly through 
the shell-wall. It is finely and regularly striated 
by raised ribs, which are more prominent above 
than below, it is acutely keeled at the periphery, 
and has two raised spiral ridges revolving near the 
peripherial keel and ascending as far as the second 
whorl. It is composed of 54 slowly increasing 
whorls, a little convex above, inflated around the 
wide and deep umbilicus. The base of the shell is 
shining. The peristome is simple, straight and 
acute, the left margin being a little reflected over 
the umbilicus. The parietal armature consists of a 
single, slightly oblique, vertical plate, which is 
slightly twisted and a little notched in the middle, 
and gives off posteriorly above an obliquely 
ascending support (see fig 42d, which shows the 
shell with part of the outer wall removed). The 
palatal armature appears to be somewhat variable, 
and consists of various denticles, arranged princi- 
pally in two horizontal series, midway between the 
periphery and the umbilicus. In the specimen 
figured, which is in Mr. Ponsonby’s collection, the 
first series consists of: posteriorly, a short, strong, 
flattened vertical tooth, and anteriorly, two short, 
slight, horizontal denticles, separated by a short 
space, the second series consists of: posteriorly, 
a short, flattened, vertical tooth, a little smaller 
than the one above it, and, anteriorly, a short, 
oblique, curved denticle. Below these two series 
is a longer, but thin, horizontal fold, coincident with 
the umbilical angulation, while above the vertical 
tooth of the first series is a minute, horizontal 
denticle, coincident with the peripherial keel. The 
specimen measures 5 millimetres in diameter. 
(Fig. 42a shows both armatures from the posterior 
side, the anterior palatal denticles being hidden by 
the posterior teeth; fig. 42) gives the anterior view 
of both armatures, but the posterior tooth of the 
first series is here hidden by the parietal plate; 
fig. 42c shows the palatal folds as they appear from 
below through the shell-wall; all the figures are 


enlarged.) Two specimens in my collection— 


‘measuring, major diameter 6 millimetres, minor 


diameter 5°5, axis 3 millimetres—have the anterior 
portion of the first series, consisting of four 
horizontal denticles, the first two close together, 
the third a little smaller and further distant, and 


Ee 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


the fourth still smaller and still further distant ; 
the anterior portion of the second series possesses, 
in addition to the oblique curved denticle, a slight, 
straight, horizontal denticle. Another specimen, 
also in my collection, measuring 5°5 millimetres in 
diameter, has three horizontal denticles in the first 
series, while the second series is similar to that in 
my other two specimens. It possesses, however, in 
addition, one posterior and two anterior denticles 
of a previous set, separated from the mature set by 
a distance of 1 millimetre. 

Plectopylis retifera (figs. 43a-c), from South India, 
was described by Dr. Pfeiffer in the ‘‘ Proceedings 


Fig. 43.—Plectopylis retifera, 


of the Zoological Society,” 1845, p. 73, and figured 
in Reeve’s ‘‘Conchologia Iconica,” t. 173, f. 1170 
(1853), and in Hanley and Theobald’s ‘‘Conchologia 
Indica,” t. 87, ff. 8 and 9 (1872). As the armature 
has never been figured, I am glad to have an 
opportunity of doing so. The shell is convexly 
conical, narrowly umbilicated and acutely keeled; 
it is dark corneous, translucent, finely and 
regularly plicated by raised ribs above, finely and 
closely ribbed below. The periphery has an acute, 
compressed keel, above which revolve two raised 
spiral ridges, which can be traced to the em- 
bryonal whorl, the lower one being provided with a 
fringe of coarse hairs. The shell is composed of 
64 slowly increasing convex whorls, while the base 
is flattened and shining, a little tumid round the 
umbilicus, which is deep and narrow, suddenly 
widening at the last whorl. The aperture is sub- 
quadrate and elongated; the peristome is simple, 
acute, scarcely reflected below. The parietal 
armature consists of a single, strong, vertical plate, 
slightly sinuate, but not notched, giving off a slight 
Support anteriorly a little below the upper ex- 
tremity (see fig. 43b, which shows both the parietal 
and palatal armatures from the posterior side). 
The palatal armature is distinctly visible through 
the shell-wall, and consists of two series of 
denticles, the upper series is composed of: pos- 
teriorly, a strong, short, vertical, flattened tooth, 
and, anteriorly, a minute, horizontally elongated 
denticle, in a line with the base of the posterior 
tooth; the lower series is composed of: 


301 


posteriorly, a smaller, flattened, vertical tooth, and, 
anteriorly, in a line with its top, a minute, horizon- 
tally elongated denticle, and, in a line with its base, 
a larger denticle, elongated obliquely. Above the 
periphery occurs, in addition, a small, horizontal 
denticle, and below the umbilical angulation a 
short horizontal fold. The two specimens figured 
are in Mr. Ponsonby’s collection, and measure 6 
millimetres in diameter. The one shown in fig. 43¢ 
is not quite mature, the newly-formed palatal 
armature, near the aperture, consisting of only one 
horizontal and two vertical denticles. Colonel 
Beddome has obligingly allowed me to inspect a 
large series of specimens of this species from the 
Tinnevelly Hills; of these, nine full-grown speci- 
mens possess only one set of denticles; five not 
quite full-grown specimens possess two sets of 
denticles each, the older (immature) sets being 
complete, while the newly-formed sets consist of 
one, two, or three denticles ; four immature speci- 
mens have only one set of denticles; ten immature 
specimens possess two sets of denticles. Of the ten 
specimens last mentioned, three have the older set 
complete and the newer set partly formed, five 
have the older set incomplete (partly absorbed) 
and the newer set complete, while, finally, the 
two remaining specimens have both sets complete. 
It may, therefore, safely be inferred that the 
older set does not become absorbed until the new 
set is completed. In a few instances I have 
observed that the two lower anterior denticles 
have become fused. 


(To be continued.) 


HEINRICH GATKE. 


By H. KirkE SWANn. 


“Be past eighteen months have been remarkably 

fateful in having removed from the ornitho- 
logical world several whom their acquaintances 
and the cause of science, and even the world in 
general, heedless of such men as it usually is, 
could ill afford to lose. 

Turning over in one’s mind the four or five 
names in question, it is hard to say—great as the 
loss of each has been—whether any one of them 
has been a greater to the cause of pure know- 
ledge than the latest addition to the list, Heinrich 
Gatke, who passed peacefully away, on the first 
day of the new year, out on the little island in the 
North Sea which had for sixty years been his 
uninterrupted place of residence. 

Herr Giitke was born on May toth, 1813, at 
Pritzewalk, Mark Brandenburg, where also he 
received the scanty education which the times and 
the manners vouchsafed to the young in that 
locality. It appears that his talents were directed 
from an early age to art, and it seems to have been 


302 


with the object of studying mazine painting that 
he went to Heligoland about the year 1836; but he 
had not long been on the island before he con- 
tracted an acquaintanceship which led to his 
marrying and making it his home for the remainder 
of his life. 

The keen interest in ornithology, which was 
afterwards to make him famous, appears to have 
developed itself not long after his arrival on the 
island. It quickly led to his beginning to form a 
collection of the stuffed skins of such birds as came 
in his way, and also to his commencing the journal 
of observations which he kept with such unfailing 
regularity throughout the rest of his long life. It 
was not until Gatke was forty years of age that 
the good use to which he had put his residence 
upon the remarkable islet first became known to 
European ornithologists. From this time onward 
Gatke and Heligoland became more and more 
familiar to ornithologists, and at the same time 
more and more inseparable. Gatke himself 
abated nothing of his self-imposed labours, 
ultimately rendering his system so perfect that 
the majority of the islanders were gradually 
pressed sufficiently into the service of the cause to 
be able to prove valuable allies in making observa- 
tions for him. 

In process of time Gatke began to filter out a 
portion of his vast store of information to the 
appreciative circle of British ornithologists. This 
he did chiefly through the medium of ‘ The Ibis,” 
and also in the shape of gratuitous data supplied 
to several of the ornithologists who visited the 
island. It was not, however, until the veteran 
observer was in his eightieth year that the whole 
of his observations and deductions were placed 
before the world in his ‘Die Vogelwarte 
Helgoland,” printed at first in German, but after- 
wards rendered accessible to our countrymen in 
the English edition of 1895. Upon the contents of 
this volume it is unnecessary to dwell in this place, 
as its value has been and will for years to come be 
almost universally recognized, in spite of whatever 
objections may be advanced against some of the 
opinions adduced by its author. 

The island of Heligoland itself may be described 
roughly as a triangular tableland, surrounded by 
nearly perpendicular cliffs, the almost level surface 
having a total area of only about one-fifth of a 
square mile. It is situated about forty miles from 
the mouth of the Elbe. The total number of species 
of birds enumerated by Gatke as having occurred 
on this ‘‘speck in the ocean” is 396, but one of 
this number (Geocichla dauma) was given in error 
(see ‘‘ Ibis,” 1894, p. 298), while some few others are 
recorded as having been seen only. On the other 
hand, at least one species has been added since the 
publication of Gatke’s work. 

10, Harrington Street, London, N.W. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


A NEW. M-EALY-BUG. 


(DacTYLoPIUS PSEUDONIP#.) 
By T. D. A. CocKERELL. 


pe the January number of SciENcE-GossiP I 

gave a description by Mr. Pergande of a 
mealy-bug found in a Michigan hothouse, believed 
to be Dactylopius nipe, of Maskell. Mr. Pergande 
himself had all along inclined to the opinion that 
it was a distinct species, though unwilling to 
publish it under a new name. I had been con- 
vinced that it represented only a variety, but since 
then I have studied some specimens found on the 
leaves of a palm in a Californian greenhouse, sent 
to me by Mr. Alex. Craw, and am converted to the 
opinion that it is a distinct though closely related 
species. In addition to the difference in the 
antenne, the new species (D. pseudonipe) differs 
also in the colour of the male and larva, D. nipe 
having, according to Maskell, a brownish-red male 
anda purplish-red larva. The following description 
is from the Californian material : 


DACTYLOPIUS PSEUDONIPZ, n. Sp. 

Female about two millimetres long, oval, bright 
crimson, covered with dense yellowish-white meal, 
which tends to elevate itself into four rows of 
dorsal protuberances. Sides with dense mealy 
tassels, pointing backwards. The female boiled in 
caustic alkali, stains the liquid claret colour; the 
contents of the body give a further reddish-brown 
stain, but cleared individuals are light violet. Anal 
ring with the usual six hairs, which are stout- 
Caudal tubercles quite pronounced for a Dactylopius, 
with the usual two conical spines, short hairs, and 
longer caudal bristle, which is not longer than and 
not quite so stout as a hair of the analring. Legs 
ordinary, femur tolerably slender, tarsus about two- 
thirds length of tibia, each with a few bristles only. 
Digitules slender, with distinct knobs; tarsal 
digitules not very long. Antennz 7-jointed, formula 
7241(63)5. 

Newly-hatched larva pale lemon yellow. 

Male sac ordinary, but pure white, not yellowish 
like the female. Male light yellow. 


Mesilla, New Mexico, U.S.A.; 
March 7th, 1897. 


EXPERIMENTAL Farms. — Professor Saunders, 
LL.D.,F.R.S.€.,B.L_S.,etc., Director of the Experi- 
mental Farms of the Dominion of Canada, gives 
his annual report of ‘‘ The Results Obtained in 1896 
from Trial Plots of Grain, Fodder-Corn and 
Roots.’”’ It is one of an admirable series upon the 
technical work so ably carried out under the direc- 
tion of Professor Saunders at the various experi- 
mental farms under his management in the Dominion 
of Canada. The marked success of the investigation 
into the varieties of economic plants suited to the 
great climatic range existing in Canada, which has 
been carried out at these establishments, has amply 
justified the annual votes which the Dominion 
Parliament has passed tor that purpose. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 303 


MICROSCOPIC “ALG ZE. 


By JAMES BurTON. 


(Continued from page 271.) 


PBBRORE going further it is necessary to explain 

that by Lyngbya is here meant the plant 
which Dr. Cooke, in his ‘ British Freshwater 
Alge,”’ p. 182, names Ulothrix vradicans (or 
parietina, for the difference is very slight), and not 
that now correctly understood under the name of 
Lyngbya, which belongs to a much lower group— 
the blue-green Oscillatoriez. 

Lyngbya muralis is an older name for the species 
intended, and has a convenience for use in this 
instance, as it is employed in all but the most 
modern books of reference. I shall take the liberty 
of adhering to it for that reason. The name occurs 
in ‘‘One Thousand Objects for the Microscope ” 
(paragraph 472), and is apparently applied in the 
old sense, though the description is scarcely definite, 
but figs. 21 and 24, plate vi., stand for species 
of the same genus, Ulothvix, and may be taken 
to represent our example, for it varies very 
considerably in size and other characteristics, 
according to its circumstances and condition. It 
consists of unbranched filaments, composed of 
cells usually much broader than long, the outer 
wall of the row being thick, sometimes swelling 
in water till it is very thick and gelatinous. 
The colour is the distinct green of chlorophyll, 
an important distinction. In comparatively dry 
situations I believe propagation takes place solely 
vegetatively, by portions of the thread, or sometimes 
single cells only, becoming detached and developing 
into new filaments ; but in water, certainly in some 
species and most probably in this, other methods 
occur. In non-sexual reproduction the protoplasm 
of some of the cells is formed into from one to 
eight pear-shaped bodies (zoospores) furnished at 
one end with four cilia, by means of which they 
move through the water for a time, finally attaching 
themselves to a suitable object, and growing up 
into a new plant. There is also a primitive kind 
of sexual reproduction. In it the protoplasm 
divides into a larger number of zoospores, each 
with two cilia; these swim about actively, and if 
two, originated in different cells, come in contact, 
they gradually unite and form one large zygospore. 
This comes to rest, attaches itself, and slowly 
grows. After a time a number of zoospores are 
formed in its interior, which, when set free, no 
doubt develop into fresh filaments, though this 
does not yet appear to have been actually observed .(!) 

Lyngbya is even more widely distributed than 
Prasiola, and may be found not only on the ground, 


(1) Vide Dr. Scott's ‘‘ An Introduction to Structural Botany,” 
Part ii. 


but on trees, posts, etc., and as its specific name— 
muralis—implies, seems especially prevalent on 
damp walls, even hanging like a green fringe 
from projecting corners and edges of the bricks. 
It is able to bear desiccation without injury, but 
flourishes luxuriantly when well supplied with 
water. For observation it may be cultivated in a 
saucer on a little earth, or on the pieces of wood or 
brick on which it may be found. Owing to the 
wet weather of last February, there is no difficulty 
in finding it at present in any quantity. 

Between the filamentous Lyngbyaand the expanded 
membrane-like Pyrasiola there is another form of 
alga found in the same situations, partaking to 
some extent of the characters of both; this has been 
named Schizogonium, and, as was mentioned last 
month, has been classified as a genus of the Ulvacee. 
It is figured in Dr. Carpenter’s ‘‘ The Microscope ”’ 
(sixth edition, p. 294), and also in the seventh 
edition, as Ulva, and the same figure is given in 
the ‘‘Micrographic Dictionary” (third edition) 
as Schizogonium. The definitions are not very 
satisfactory, and the plant itself, as far as it is 
possible to identify it, varies extremely. ‘‘ British 
Freshwater Algze’”’ gives: ‘‘ Threadsas in Ulothrix ; 
or, in many places, laterally connate (duplicate or 
triplicate), or by cellular division in two directions, 
forming narrow, flat bands, which are more or less 
crispate.”’ 

To me, and probably to most students, the 
greatest interest about these plants is in connection 
with the statement that the filamentous Lyngbya 
will, by division of its cells in a longitudinal direc- 
tion, develop inio Schizogonium, described above, 
and that this, by continuing the process and 
increasing only laterally, at last reaches the 
condition of a membranous frond and then is 
the actual organism known to us already as 
Prasiola. 

Dr. Braxton Hicks, in a paper in the ‘‘ Quarterly 
Journal of Microscopical Science "’ for 1861, pp. 157- 


166, says: ‘‘The only real difference between the 
first two is that whereas Lyngbya is a tube contain- 
ing distinct cells within, which, when old, undergo 
collateral division to form a band of two, four, or 
eight rows of cells, Schizogonium is a band of two 
or eight rows of cells, which, when young, was buta 
single row contained in a tube; which is only two 
different ways of stating the same facts. The 
comparison of the last two is of the same 
kind. For as Prasiola, when old, is composed 
of many rows of cells, but which arose from 
a single row, there must have been a time in 
its life when it had two, four or eight rows, 
and thus have been a Schizogonium, for there 
is no other structural difference between the 


404 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


two.’’ And again, ‘‘ The whole of these changes 
are so palpable, can be observed so constantly, and 
are at the same time so simple in their relations to 
one another, that one can scarcely imagine how 
they can have been separated not only into distinct 
species, but into different families of alge. Thus 
the linear stage is called Lyngbya, the early stage 
of collateral segmentation Schizogonium, the adult 
stage Prasiola, while the gonidial growth has been 
classed under Palmellacez.” 

There is nothing in the above quotation but 
what certainly may easily be the fact. The cells 
composing the various forms do not differ from 
each other more than the cells from different 
specimens of any one of them. It is important also 
to remember that all the cells from a physiological 
point of view are of exactly the same value, they 
must all of them perform the functions of an 
entire plant, there is here no modification of 
structure in order to fulfil different duties, such as 
is apparent in the higher plants. Each com- 
ponent item is at once functionally root, and stem, 
and leaf, and even reproductive body too, so that 
the mere external form of the whole colony may 
well be but a secondary matter and dependent on 
age, or the diverse conditions of environment. Of 
course it is not contended that all species of 
Ulothrix, as now understood, are but the immature 
condition of another plant, but the one only, and 
its somewhat uncertain varieties which would 
formerly have been known as Lyngbya muralis. 
Still, the assertion does not appear to have been 
generally accepted as final, and though often 
quoted with approval, the old classification is yet 
adhered to. Indeed, the truth of the matter is not 
So easy to ascertain as might be expected. Nothing 
would appear to be more simple than to obtain 
specimens of Lyngbya, keep them under observation 
during growth (they flourish readily with reason- 
able treatment), and in due course they should 
develop through Schizogonium into Prasiola. Yet 
almost certainly it would be found they did 
nothing of the kind, but continued as Lyngbya still. 


To quote Dr. Hicks again: ‘‘ There seems an 
innate tendency of any one form to continue and 
to multiply in that form in all stages of this plant, 
whether in the free segmenting gonidial stage, in 
the early half-grown or mature linear, or, later on, 
in any stage of the collateral mode. This property 
is possessed by most if not all the lower algze, and 
it is this which has doubtless tended to divide into 
distinct species and genera forms which should 
have been but the links of a single chain.” 


Interesting as it might be, it is needless here to 
enter on a discussion as to the merits of Dr. Hicks’ 
theory. I have watched the plants for several 
years and have grown specimens at home at ‘inter- 
vals during the time, but find the whole of them 
vary so much according to season and habitat, 
while the descriptions in most books are so 
indefinite (it is mainly after all a question of 
definition) and even contradictory, that it would be 


useless to offer a decided opinion on the matter. 
The remark may be permitted, however, that to 
me it seems impossible to establish the genus 
Schizogonium. All the many specimens that have 
come under my observation appear to represent 
either a state of Lyngbya in which the filaments 
have become connate, or a young condition of 
Prasiola developed from some of the proliferations 
to which it gives rise. Lyngbya is much more 
common than either Schizogoniwm or Pyrasiola, 
it may almost be described as ubiquitous so 
plentiful is it, and though in the vast majority of 
cases it retains its own proper characteristics, and 
does not develop into anything else, a form does 
occasionally occur, and just recently I have found 
it in great abundance in one situation, which 
somewhat resembles the other two. Probably in 
consequence of the wet and mild winter, added to 
some special suitability in the site, a patch of it 
has grown with great vigour and luxuriance, the 
filaments being crowded together, have adhered to 
one another and united into ribbon-like structures 
of varying widths, according to the number of 
threads taking part in the process. Not in- 
frequently this has gone so far that the result 
is a broad membranous frond. Now the 
narrower examples agree precisely with part o1 
the definition already given for Schizogonium : 
“Threads as in Ulothrix; or, in many places, 
laterally connate (!) (duplicate or triplicate)’; 
while the broader ones, consisting of expanded 
fronds, are in general appearance like Prasiola. 
Indeed, this seems to be the form described under 
that name in the third edition ‘‘ Micrographic 
Dictionary.” Well marked as these structures 
are, they certainly do not require a specific name, 
their origin is evident, the actual filaments are 
quite distinguishable lying side by side, marked 
out, but at the same time connected by the 
thickened walls which appear like broad, almost 
colourless, stripes. In the wider specimens, owing 
to the junction of threads lying in different 
directions in one plane, angular spaces often 
occur between them, leaving openings; and the 
shape of the whole frond, particularly the edges, is 
most irregular. 

Besides the interest attaching to their develop- 
ment, and their beauty as microscopic objects, 
these plants have the further attraction of bearing 
preparation and permanent mounting extremely 
well. Indeed, with very little trouble they may be 
preserved so as to retain their natural appearance, 
even to the colour, for years, so that typical 
specimens and their variations can be laid by for 
future reference. In the last October number of 
SCIENCE-Gossip we had a receipt given for a 
mounting fluid which would no doubt be highly 


() Connate— “having parts united in any stage of 
development, which are normally distinct,” 


Se a 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


successful, but a somewhat simpler medium 
answers admirably in this case. Take a small 
phial or test-tube, about half fill it with water 
acidified with a little acetic acid, and add acetate 
of copper, shake and allow it to settle; if the 
amounts are just right the liquid should appear 
of a clear blueish-green, with a little sediment at 
the bottom, showing that it is a saturated solution. 
It is, perhaps, an advantage, though not indispens- 
able, to add about twenty-five per cent. of a saturated 
solution of salicylic acid as a defence against fungi. 
Pour the upper clear part off into a bottle for use. 
Now take the specimens, wash clean, and place in 
a little water in a watch-glass, add a few drops of 
the above fluid, and allow to stand for some hours, 
then add more of the fluid, allow to stand again, 
next dilute some glycerine with the same acetate 
solution and put a few drops with the specimens, 
after an interval repeating the application. The 
object of this method is that the protoplasm 


NODES JOR WA LONE 


395 


may not be contracted by rapid withdrawal of 
cell sap—technically plasmolysis—which would be 
the case if a dense fluid were added to the water 
too suddenly; the more slowly the process takes 
place the better the result. A still more simple 
method of preservation is to substitute a weak 
solution of sulphate of copper alone for the acetate 
and acetic acid, but the result is somewhat less 
satisfactory. The specimens thus prepared may be 
mounted in glycerine or glycerine jelly. If the 
latter is used it should be thinned with a little of 
the acetate or sulphate solution, as it is always too 
thick as sold by the dealers; it should only just 
set, when at the temperature of an ordinary warm 
dwelling-room. 

I shall be pleased to forward specimens of the 
Lyngbya here described, if still obtainable when this 
appears, to anyone sending address and stamp fer 


postage. 
9g, Agamemnon Road, West Hampstead. 


NATURALIST. 


By Mrs. EmiLy J. CLIMENSON. 


ap ae terrible frost of January 17th (sixteen 

degrees registered) played great havoc with 
aquarium objects. The frost-crystals on the panes 
of the windows the ensuing morning were of the 
usual type, resembling vineyards, hop-gardens 
and bowers of fern-like tracery. On entering our 
stable I was astonished to see the frost-marking on 
the windows. A bold but exquisitely delineated 
pattern of acanthus-leaves was to be seen, drawn 
too accurately and beautifully tor any human hand. 
The windows face due west, but are in an exposed 
situation, and the stable is very cold. I have never 
seen this frost-pattern before. I should say the 
acanthus-like leaves on the top measured from 
three to four inches across, then broke into a sort 
of stem, to be succeeded by another leaf or portion 
thereof, all precisely the same pattern. What 
struck me as singular was that all the heads of the 
so-called leaves bent from right to left, or south- 
wards. January 18th was succeeded by three days 
of lesser degrees of freezing, but intensely cold wind. 
I had broken the ice at the top of the aquaria, and 
covered them with blankets, they being placed in 
a brick, octagonal summer-house here. Despite of 
this, ny poor boatman (Notonecta glauca) died 
on January t1gth, doubtless unable to breathe. 
I had kept a pair, which I had caught the third 
week in October, and placed in a glass jar to see 
how long I could keep them alive. One died soon, 
but the other flourished, and got quite tame, fasten- 
ing on food at once when given. I also placed two 
Ilybius ater beetles in a jar, and two young efts, or 


water-newts, with branchiz in another. After this 
frost the sole survivor is an eft, which, though 
lively, grows smaller apparently, yet the branchiz 
are being absorbed. The poor fish mostly died, 
the only survivors being a gold-fish, two minnows, 
and two Prussian carp. The tails of the latter 
were injured from sticking to the ice. I placed 
them in a small aquarium, and took them into the 
house, where they rapidly revived, and continue 
well, and are now restored to the open air. 

The wind, which blew so powerfully on January 
22nd, took the snow as it fell and whirled it into a 
complete blizzard ; the drifts were in some places 
near here fifteen feet deep, and many roads were 
completely blocked, and had to be dug out. To the 
snow succeeded rain, and the floods in the Thames 
valley rose rapidly, and continued from February 
7th to the r2th to rise, only afterwards gradually 
sinking away, leaving the usual disagreeable smell 
of river mud. 

Three winters ago, in severe weather, two rooks 
took to going to the school-house here. The 
schoolmaster and his family fed them with scraps. 
They learnt the hours of meals, and have ever 
since regularly appeared for pieces. The general 
number now are seven rooks, with the old pair. 
They come every day, summer or winter, and, I 
am told, seem to inflict no damage in the garden, 
with which our schoolmaster is particularly suc- 
cessful, and is devoted to its culture. 

On February 12th Mr. C. Nicholson kindly, for 
the third time, essayed to send me specimens of 


; 306 


Hydra viridis and Hydra vulgaris in a small tube. 
This time they arrived quite safely, and the tube 
was emptied into a small glass jam-jar, with a 
little duckweed and Anacharsis. Hydra viridis is 
evidently the hardiest, as they are at the moment 
I write (March 5th) extremely flourishing, but 
Hydra vulgaris are evidently bad travellers, as 
they have from the beginning decreased much 
in numbers, and those I have present a frail 
appearance, quite unlike the vividis. One, however, 
of H. vulgaris, on February 25th, showed two 
circular brown spots in centre of body, which else 
Was semi-transparent, and which I conclude must 
have been eggs. Unfortunately, the next day this 
Hydra had hidden itself. I have often witnessed 
generation by gemmation, but never by eggs. The 
Hydra are so like the rootlets of the duckweed it is 
sometimes a matter of difficulty to discern them. 
I am still inclined to think that they draw sus- 
tenance from the chlorophyll in the Anacharsis, or 
else poison it, as all the leaves they have been 
fastened on become brown and transparent, and I 
have four more glass jars in my drawing-room 
window with other creatures living amongst 
Anacharsis, the weed in which neither loses its 
colour nor is arrested in growth. 

Vegetation is forward for this date. We have a 
number of Crown Imperials in a border here; they 
are only in leaf at present, but on sunny days smell 
just like the scent of a fox. This fact also applies 
to the flowers for the first day or two, and then 
wears off. Can this be to attract insects for fer- 
tilization ? 

At Shiplake, at a height of 308 feet above the 
sea, lies a terrace of plateau gravel drift; lower 
down, on the site of our house and church, 
stretching on either side, is another gravel terrace 
lying over the chalk, some 202 feet above the sea- 
level. In this gravel, in the year 18g0, the first 
paleolithic implements, of a more or less oval form, 
were found. Since then a great many have been 
discovered at different times, and in the first week 
in February this year, on this lower terrace, Mr. 
F. O. Warner, who has made quite a small collec- 
tion of worked stones here, found a remarkably 
fine specimen, which was picked off the surface of 
the ground of a field called Heath Hill. The actual 
size is 44 inches by 33 inches. One side is more 
highly polished than the other ; two most cleverly 
chipped-out hollows are left on one side for grasp- 
ing, fitting the thumb and middle finger very 
exactly. It is in brown chertstone. Besides 
flint and stone implements, some fine specimens of 
banded flint, chalcedonite or mammal flint, fossil 
sea-urchins, locally called ‘‘ shepherds’ crowns,” a 
cast of an ammonite, fine specimens of flint 
sponges, and neolithic stone arrow-heads, give an 
interest to every pile of flints dug out or dredged, 
or scattered over the fields. So frequent are the 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


flints and stones in this country that they are 
nicknamed ‘‘ Oxfordshire weeds,’ and in some 
cases of high lands away from the river a too 
careful picking off of them is to be avoided, as in 
such a dry soil flints actually protect the moisture, 
caused by rain or dew, beneath them. In this 
county the uplands on the Chiltern range away 
from the river are particularly affected in dry 
seasons by water famine. 

I have started a vivarium, and have a water- 
tortoise (Emys orbicularis), a toad, two Triton 
christatus and some smaller Triton punctatus living in 
amity. It iscurious how, whether winter orsummer, 
high wind affects my tortoise, which I purchased 
last August. Ina gale he is extraordinarily lively, 
and moves his head in an agitated way. 


Shiplake, Oxon., March 5th. 


BOTANICAL TEACHING. 


Bet one the Royal Botanic Society of London, 

on February 27th, Mr. John Birkett, F.L-S., 
in the chair,a paper was read by Mr. Martindale, 
calling attention to the desirability of establishing 
in London an institution for the purpose of teaching 
botany. He suggested that such a botanical school 
should be similar to those in existence on the 
Continent, and proposed that the Council should 
take charge of the scheme and utilise a portion of 
their ground for the erection of the necessary 
buildings. From its central position and the fact 
of all the requisite material for study being at hand 
in a living condition, no other site in or near 
London would be so suitable for the purpose. The 
great fault of the present system of botanical 
teaching in England outside the medical schools 
and universities was that too much attention was 
given to botany solely with the object of enabling 
students to pass examinations, while economic and 
physiological botany was scarcely touched upon. 
If a young German was desirous of emigrating, 
previous to doing so he could attend a short course 
at oneof the institutions at home, and learn all that 
would be of most use to him about the grasses, 
fruits and vegetable products of the country he 
proposed to setile in. In England there was no 
such means of acquiring knowledge of this kind, 
and it was for the purpose of supplying such a 
deficiency that the establishment of the institute 
was proposed. Among those present who gave the 
scheme their hearty support were Professor 
Oliver (of University College), Mr. D. H. Scott 
(of Kew), Professor Henslow, Professor Greenish, 
Mr. M. Carteighe, Mr. E. M. Holmes (of the 
Pharmaceutical Society), and many other eminent 
and scientific botanists. We feel sure that suchan 
admirable proposal will not be allowed to drop, and 
hope those of our readers who can will use their 
influence in its favour. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


METEOROLOGICAL EXHIBITION. 


qe Royal Meteorological Society recently held 
an important Exhibition of Meteorological 
Instruments in use in 1837 and 1897, in commemora- 
tion of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty the 
Queen. It is only natural to expect that the space 
of sixty years should develop some remarkable 
improvements in this class of scientific instruments. 
That such improvements have taken place was 
very fully demonstrated by the collection we are 
now noticing. It was probably as complete as 
could have been got together. Still, when we 
consider the enormous strides which some other 
branches of science have made during the same 
sixty. years, it seems remarkable how compara- 
tively slow has been the progress of meteorology, 
taking into account its vast importance to the 
human race. We fully recognize the difficulties 
encountered by the meteorologists on every side, 
and the perpetual recurrence of the element of 
apparent accident brought about by conflicting 
influences from unexpected quarters. After ex- 
amining the score and a-half exhibits representing 
the instruments in use when the Queen ascended 
the throne, and then looking over those of most 
recent construction, one cannot help feeling that in 
1837 the general idea was nearly as far advanced 
as at the present time. The chief addition to 
the new instruments are for cloud observation, 
which is receiving greater attention now. This is 
probably to be attributed to the immensely ad- 
vanced condition of the science of photography. 

The exhibition was opened on Tuesday, March 
16th, and held in the large library of the 
Institution of Civil Engineers, Great George Street, 
Westminster, S.W. The instruments which were 
in use in 1837, as might be supposed, were not very 
numerous, but many of them were somewhat quaint 
and of great interest. Sir E. H. Verney, Bart., 
showed an old barometer with a large spirit 
thermometer, which latter had an arbitrary scale, 
decreasing as the temperature increases, ‘‘extream 
cold” being go° and ‘‘extream hot” 0% <A 
curious instrument of the olden time was shown by 
the Society itself, to whom it belongs. This was the 
large cistern barometer which was made by R. C. 
Woods in 1837 for the Meteorological Society of 
London. The proportion of the calibre of the tube to 
that of the cistern is as 1°50, a proportion which 
was considered sufficient to obviate the necessity of 
applying capacity corrections. The tube and 
cistern originally held 70 Ibs. of mercury. Mr. 
G. J. Symons, F.R.S., exhibited an original centi- 
grade thermometer by Gay Lussac. 

The instruments in use in 1897 were very 
numerous, and comprised various forms of 
barometers, thermometers, hygrometers, rain- 
gauges, anemometers, nephoscopes, sunshine 


327, 


recorders, actinometers, aneroids, electrical and 
miscellaneous instruments. Many of the instru- 
ments were self-recording and were shown in action. 
The most interesting exhibit was a_ railed-off 
enclosure, about twelve feet square, covered with 
green baize, representing a typical climatological 
station of the Royal Meteorological Society. This 
included a Stevenson thermometer screen, fitted 
with dry bulb, wet bulb, maximum and minimum 
thermometers, rain-gauge, solar and terrestrial 
radiation thermometers, sunshine recorder and 
earth-thermometer, all of which were placed im situ. 
The exhibition also included a number of charts 
and photographs which were of great interest, par- 
ticularly those, by Mr. J. Leadbeater, of ice-crystals 
on window-panes. These photographs were of great 
beauty, exhibiting some of the striking dendritic 
patterns assumed by ice-crystals. They appeared 
to develop definite types which, though frequently 
related, were remarkable for their divergence from 
eachother. Mr. W.H. Dines showed an experiment 
illustrating the formation of the tornado-cloud, 
and Mr. Birt Acres exhibited some exceedingly 
interesting studies of form and movement of 
clouds and waves projected on the screen by his 
cinematoscope. 


ABNORMAL ORANGES. 


GENER OE correspondents have consulted us 

recently about an abnormal growth of orange 
fruit, said, in each instance, to come from California. 
Writing on March 2nd last, Mr. Eldon Pratt, 
of Northerndene, Streatham Common, near 
London, says, ‘‘We have recently had several 
fine oranges, said to be Californian; they are 
quite as large as the “‘ Jaffa’ fruit, and much 
the same shape, with thick peel. Each shows at 
its distal end, that farthest from the end of attach- 
ment, through a small aperture in the outer peel, 
bounded by thin edges, another smaller orange. 
On section it was evident that a complete im- 
mature orange was present, well developed, and 
about the size of a small tangerine. It was quite 
easy to entirely enucleate it, leaving a somewhat 
conical cavity. The ‘‘mother’’ orange was com- 
pletely developed, very juicy, and in all cases, I 
think, pipless. Is this peculiar? At any rate, I 
thought it worth recording.’’ Another correspon- 
dent sends, for our inspection, a couple of these 
supplementary fruit, which are much of the same 
character as those described by Mr. Eldon Pratt. 
He, however, draws our attention to a long cord- 
like connection between the small and the larger, 
or host-fruit, and suggests, we think properly, that 
they are probably placente connecting the two. 
Can any one tell our readers anything about 
this apparently frequent ‘‘sport’’ in Californian 
oranges ?—[ED.] 


308 


eMC 
IG 


A Monograph of the Land and Freshwater Mollusca of 
the British Isles. By JounN W. Taytor, F.L.S. 
Part iv., pp. 193 to 256; and figures 378 to 512. 
(Leeds: Taylor Bros., 1897.) Price 6s. 

The fourth part of this fine work is occupied by 
the continuation of descriptions of the soft parts of 
the animals and their functions. It brings the 
subject well forward, and much skill is displayed in 
dealing with the organs under treatment. Considera- 
tion of the foot is completed and the pallium, or 
mantle, and the visceral region are discussed. On 
page 209, Mr. Taylor commences the description of 
the internal organization, beginning with the 
nervous system, which occupies fifteen pages. 
Following come the sensory organs, with admirable 
articles, well illustrated by drawings, on vision, 
smell, hearing and taste. The alimentary system 
1S commenced but not quite completed in this 
part. We venture, with the author’s permission, to 
quote a few lines and to re-produce illustrations to 
show the good style of this book. We have 


Figs. from Taylor’s ‘‘Land and Freshwater Mollusca,” 
illustrating the stages of the process leading to the degener- 
ation and loss of the shell owing to its enclosure within the 
pallial lobes. Fig. 398—Vitvina pellucida x 14, showing the 
first stages of pallial expansion. Fig. 399—Physa fontinalis 
x 2, illustrating a further advance ot the process. Fig. 400— 
Amphipeplea glutinosa, in which the shell is almost entirely 
enveloped by the mantle. Fig. 401.—Avion hortensis, illus- 
trating the complete infolding of the shell by the mantle 
and its consequent atrophy and loss. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


selected for the purpose some of his remarks on 
the degeneration of the shell and its connection 
with the mantle. He says: ‘‘In Vitrina we have 
the first distinct stage in this process of the 
degeneration of the shell by its enclosure within 
the pallial folds, which project anteriorly in the 
form of an incipient limacoid shield, and laterally 
as a spatuliform lobe, both partially overspreading 
the external surface of the shell, which is evidently 
reduced in size as well as in substance, as the body 
of the animal is now only capable of being wholly 
contained within the shell during dry weather. 
. . . The genus Avion illustrates the disappearance 
of a definite shell, the anterior mantle or shield, as 
it is called, having assumed a very tough and 
leathery consistency, its margins completely over- 
lapping and fusing together to form a sac enclosing 
the calcareous granulations which represent the 
vestigial shell.’’ 

It is in this manner that the author carries us on 
step by step through his work, making all things 
easy to the students of the terrestrial and fluviatile 
mollusca who desire to know these most interesting 
animals as they should be known. We again press 
upon our readers the advantage of supporting Mr. 
Taylor, by subscribing to his work, in his laud- 
able effort to produce a really scientific monograph 
on one of the most popular and easily accessible 
classes available to the student of biology in the 
British Islands. 


New Thoughts on Current Subjects: Scientific, 
Social, Philosophical. By Rev. J. A. DEWE. 230 
pp. 8vo. (London: Elliot Stock, 1897). Price not 
stated. 


This book consists of a series of essays on fifteen 
more or less abstruse subjects, which are divided 
into three sections of five each, viz.: Scientific, 
Social, Philosophical. So far as this magazine is 
concerned, the first and last sections alone appeal 
to us, though in our private capacity we find the 
second section amusing. The liberal and sweeping 
manner in which the author treats his subject is at 
times appalling. For instance, we may quote a 
sentence from his chapter on ‘‘ Free Will versus 
Heredity,’’ in which he says: ‘‘ Let us turn to the 
converse side and contemplate the spectacle of a 
London child ‘suckled on gin and born into 
eternal damnation,’ that is to say, surrounded by 
every stimulant to evil; in almost every case 
the child grows up to a bad and wicked 
manhood or womanhood.” If this is true, it 
seems to us that the author’s vocation should 
be among benighted Londoners, rather than 
educating the youth of superior kind at Ilkley 
College. With regard to the Essays on Science 
and Philosophy, such subjects as ‘‘ The Nature of 
Heat,” ‘‘The Nature of Electricity,” ‘‘ Spiritua- 
listic Communications,” ‘‘ The Dogmatic and 
Scientific Accounts of the Creation of Man,’ should 
be read and re-read to be understood. We have 
read and candidly confess we do not yet understand 
the theories propounded in some of them. There 
is frequently a want of care in expression. Writing 
of the abundance of life in the oceans, the author 
says, ‘‘The immensity of the fishing trade, the 
numbers that are able to gain a living by its means, 
are sufficient indications of the enormous quantities 
of fish, both moving and stationary,’”’ What, we 
venture to ask, are stationary fish? Certainly 
the author has done his best to include thoughts 
that are new into his book, but the reading of them 
is apt to raise thoughts in others which are unfor- 
tunately by no means new. i 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


The Hemiptera—Homopteva of the British Islands. 
(Cicadina and Psyllina). By James Epwarps, 
F.E.S. 271 pp. 8vo, illustrated by 2 plates. 
(London: L. Reeve and Co., 1896.) Price 12s. 

According to the custom of Messrs. Reeve and 
Co., in the series to which it belongs, this work is 
published in two forms; the smaller, we have 
received for notice. It consists of the letterpress 
portion of the larger edition, which is published with 
twenty-eight coloured plates, at 43s. net. In the book 
before us are two plain plates with outline drawings 
of anatomical characters of the insects under 
discussion. These will be found useful. It is 
unfortunate that, as in the case of the other books of 
this series, there is an absence of synonymic and 
bibliographical references, for nowadays synonomy 
is of such high consequence when clearly explained. 
The numbers of British species has been raised 
from 268—included in the Douglas and Scott 
Catalogue of 1876—to 307 in this work. Following 
a description of the general characters of the 
Homopterous sub-order of the Hemiptera are some 
useful remarks in the introduction upon collecting 
and preserving the specimens for study. Some of 
the former instructions are rather elaborate, though 
the author states that they are worth the trouble 
entailed in their prosecution. We have not seen 
the larger edition mentioned. 


Investigation into Applied Nature. By WILLIAM 
WItLson, Junr. 143 pp. 8vo. (London: Simpkin, 
Marshall; Aberdeen: John Rae Smith.) Noprice 
given. 

This is a series of collected and other papers by 
the author, bearing upon the economic relation 
between certain scientific studies and the applica- 
tion of their subjects to man’s uses. For instance, 
“ Our Indigenous Flora as Food Plants,’’ ‘‘ Pasture 
Plants,” etc. There is some originality in several 
of these essays, both with regard to opinions and 
expression. Occasionally the scientific names of 
plants are confusing to the modern botanist, but 
doubtless the author knows what he means by 
Pyrolee vacciniee or Tussilago fav'fava. In writing 
about ‘‘ Agricultural Zoology’’ the author says: 
“When we reach our third province, we im- 
mediately touch the province of insects; not only 
so, but it is noted for the immense variety of its 
forms, and it is only reasonable to suppose that 
agriculture has also immense interests involved in 
it. First we find the earthworm. Next 
in order of structure we have the insects proper,” 
and so on. We can hardly believe that Mr. Wilson 
desires to infer that earthworms are to be classed 
as insects; still, either through carelessness of 
expression or intention, he clearly does so. We 
fear that beyond causing gratification to the author, 
this work will add little to human progress. 


Insects affecting Domestic Animals. By HERBERT 
OsBorN. 302 pp. large 8vo. Illustrated by 4 
plates and 170 figures in the text. (Washington: 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1896.) 

This admirable work is known as ‘‘ Bulletin No, 5, 
New Series, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Division of Entomology,” and forms one of the 
many valuable publications issued by the U.S. 
Government for the instruction of its citizens. It 
was originally intended to make this the joint work 
of the late Dr. C. V. Riley and Mr. Herbert 
Osborn, but the unfortunate death of Dr. Riley 
threw the responsibility upon the latter. The 
result is, as we have said, admirable. Without 
being too technical or prolix, the author takes us 
through the long series of pests which affect our 


399 


domestic animals. Though written for the American 
public, the contents of this book will be found just 
as useful in Europe. Full particulars of each para- 
site are given with their life-histories, the hosts 
upon which they live, damage they effect, and the 
most modern and effectual remedies for the alle- 
viation of their attacks. The illustrations, which 
are in most cases new and original, have been 
specially drawn or checked under the supervision of 
the author. Chapter ix. is a bibliography of the 
subject referring to the more important works on 
parasites, and will be found useful for reference. 
Altogether, this is a book to be used by all sorts 
and conditions of readers on both continents. The 
author is one in authority in his subject, being 
Professor of Zoology and Entomology at Iowa 
Agricultural College, and formerly Commissioner 
to inquire into these parasites. There is not any 
mention of price on the book, but our experience is 
that all works produced under these circumstances 
are extraordinarily inexpensive, and may be 
generally obtained through Messrs. Wesley and 
Son, Essex Street, London. a 


Analytic Keys to the Geneva and Species of North 
American Mosses. By CHARLES REID Barnes. 
221 pp. large 8vo. (Madison, Wis.: published by 
the University, 1897.) Price 1 dol. 

This new work on the mosses of North America, 
by Professor Barnes, cannot fail to at once attain 
to the position of a standard for reference. It has 
been revised and extended by Mr. Fred de Forest 
Heald, and generally brought well up to date with 
the co-operation of many of the leading bryologists 
of America and Europe. The object of this large 
book is stated to be to fill up an interval before 
the new manual of North American mosses can be 
completed, and to further their critical study. It 
is really a third edition of a work first published 
with a similar object in 1886. All species known 
to be included in the moss-flora of that continent 
are included in the keys, which are followed by an 
‘‘ Appendix,” occupying half the book, containing 
descriptions of species and varieties published since 
the issue of Lesquereux and James’ ‘‘ Manual of 
Mosses of North America.”’ These are 603 in 
number. 


Liverpool Marine Biology Committee. Tenth Annual 


Report. By W. A. HeErRpman, D.Sc., F-.R.S. 
52 pp. 8vo. (Liverpool: T. Dobb and Co., 1897.) 
Price Is. 


Professor Herdmann, as usual, produces an 
interesting report of the work done by the Com- 
mittee over which he presides, and at the Port 
Erin Biological Station, where he directs. It was 
an eventful year in 1896 with the Committee, for 
it had to look its best on the visit of the British 
Association to Liverpool. The year is also 
memorable on account of the compilation of an 
index list of all the species of marine animals 
and plants recorded by the Committee during its 
first ten years’ work. According to the Station 
Record, the tables at the Port Erin Laboratory were 
occupied on fifty-nine occasions by workers chiefly 
in connection with Owens College, Manchester, and 
University College Liverpool; though others came 
from such distant places as Christiania, Heidelberg, 
Geneva, Ierseke and Louvain. Professor Herdman 
recounts some amusing remarks passed by visitors 
when inspecting the contents of the tanks, such 
as the frequently expressed indignant exclama- 
tion, ‘‘ but a fish is not an animal, is it ? ''—and 
that too from apparently educated persons. We 
quite sympathise with the Professor, for we need 


310 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


not goto the Isle of Man to hear such exclamations. 
Included in this report is an interesting list of 
the sea anemones of Port Erin, which number 
twenty-one species. The Committee had a nice 
windfall last year by the vote of £950, the unspent 
balance of the local fund collected at Liverpool for 
the entertainment of the British Association. Both 
the Local Committee of the British Association 
and the Marine Biology Comm:..ce are to be 
congratulated on the happy event. 

Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society Trans- 
actions. 61 pp. 8vo. (Leicester: Geo. Gibbons 
and Co., 1897.) Price 6d. 

The part of the Leicester Transactions before us 
is No. 7 of volume iv. of the new quarterly series. 
The meetings reported extend from October 5th to 
December 14th, 1896. The first was occupied by the 
‘President’s Address,” which wasevidently prepared 
with much care, though there is nothing to indicate 
the name to whom praise is due. Its subject was 
“The Cultivation of the Powers of Observation.” 
There are several papers of interest among the 
others. One by Mr. Frank Bouskell, F.E.S., upon 
“The Disappearance of Certain Species of Insects, 
with Notes on their Slaughter and Protection.” 
Some of the statements contained in the paper are 
doubtless true, but others need confirmation, 
especially one about the late Dr. Power and 
the brown paper. That over-collecting may, 
in some instances, do damage, there is no 
reason to discuss; but that it is the cause 
of the disappearance of various insects from 
our fauna, is simply impossible. There are 
literally thousands of square acres of splendid 
collecting-ground in the British Islands, where 
the net of a collector has never yet been seen. 
Still the ‘‘disappeared”’ butterflies are not there 
now, though doubtless common at one time. We 
must look for other cause than the ‘‘ collector ’’ for 
the partial extermination of the black-veined white 
butterfly in Britain. What is there visibly different 
in our islands from other countries where the Cam- 
berwell-beauty butterfly (Vanessa antiopa) breeds 
commonly every year? Most seasonsit is recorded 
as occurring in Britain, but is there any authentic 
record of the larve having ever been found here? 
If ever an insect was over-collected and that for 
the past fifty years, it was Epione pavalellaria 
(vespertavia) in its most restricted area, near York. 
If the collecting theory was correct, that species 
ought to have disappeared years ago. The 
Leicester Society has passed certain regulations 
for the protection of rare and local insects in the 
neighbourhood. To these rules a schedule is 
attached giving the limit of number to be taken 
by any one member, apparently in any season. 
We doubt, however, the practicability of the 
scheme, though planned with such good intention. 

Tevmeészetvajzi Fuzetck. Vol. xx., 1897. Parts 
1-2. 308 pp. 4to. Illustrated by 6 plates and 
frontispiece. (Budapest National Museum, 1897.) 

This handsome publication is edited by the staff 
of the National Museum at Budapest, being 
beautifully illustrated and well produced. Itis a 
journal devoted to the natural sciences, and is 
conducted under the auspices of the Hungarian 
Academy of Sciences, from which the management 
receives a subvention. The subscription is only 
1o francs per annum. The number before us 
commences with an appreciative article by Dr. 
Harvath Géza upon Trivaldszky Janos, illustrated 
by a portrait of this celebrated naturalist, whose 
work was in entomology and other branches of the 
invertebratz. 


ee UR Y), 7H WON" = 
(= 7 Wi ss Bi AN st <a 
it NV Ue Pl App 
SS e 
OTANY 24 


YAP, 


ABNORMAL HazEL-FLoweER.—I have found a 
remarkable deviation from the ordinary form of 
female flower of Conylus avellana, in which it 
appears as a complete whorl or coronet round the 
bud, instead of the usual tuft. This is the only 
instance I have met with, though I must have 
examined many hundreds of these flowers from 
time to time. The appearance of the flower is 
unusually striking and abnormal.—H. M. Dixon, 
Wickham House, East Park Parade, Northampton ; 
February 237d, 1897. 


BriTIsH GRASSES.—We understand that the 
Rev. E. Adrian Woodruffe-Peacock, of Cadney, 
Brigg, has undertaken to edit a newedition of Mr. 
Lowe's ‘“‘ British Grasses.’”’ It would greatly assist 
him if botanists, who have specimens of the 
following grasses in their collections, would lend, 
or present them to him for comparison. It would 
be well to first communicate with Mr. Peacock, 
who undertakes to carefully return all specimens 
lent. The species required are:—Setaria glauca, 
Beauv. ; Apera interrupta, Beauv. ; Spartina townsendi, 
H. and J. Groves; Homalocenchus ovyzoides, Mieg. ; 
Phalaris pavadoxa, L.; Anthoxanthum puelti, Lecoq. ; 
Deyeuxta strigosa, Kunth. ; Ammophila baltica, Link. ; 
Deschampsia discolor, Roem.et Schultz.; Briza maxima, 
L.; Poa stricta, Lindb.; Poa laxa, Hoenke; Poa 
glanca, L.; Poa balfouri, Parnell; Poa chaixti, Vill. ; 
Poa palustris, L.; Festuca ambigua, Le Gall; Festuca 
myuvos, L.; Festuca dumetorum, L.; F. heterophylla, 
Lam.; Bromius tectorum, L.; B. Racemosus, L.; 
Loliwm linicola, Souder; Agvopyron pungens, Roem 
et Schultz; A. Acutuwm, Roem. et Schultz. It is 
fortunate so good a botanist has been selected to 
re-edit this book. 


Economic Use For HeERACcLEUM.—If your 
correspondent, Mr. W. E. Nicholson, will refer to 
Loudon’s Encyclopedia of Plants, edition edited 
by Mrs. Loudon, footnote, pp. 222 and 223, he 
will find some information about the drying of the 
leaves, etc., of the Hevacleum gigantium, which he 
mentions (ante p. 266), which may be sufficient 
to afford a basis for further inquiry if he desires 
it—J. W. Jeans, M.R.C.S.Lond., Grantham. {The 
note refers to H. sphondyliwm, the common 
‘“‘cow-parsnip,’’ and is as follows: ‘‘Gmelin informs 
us that the inhabitants of Kamtchatka, about the 
beginning of July, collect the footstalks of the 
radical leaves, and after pulling off the rind, which 
is very acrid, dry them separately in the sun, and 
then, tying them in bundles, lay them up carefully 
in the shade in bags; in this state they are covered 
with yellow saccharine efflorescence tasting like 
liquorice; this, being shaken off, is eaten as a great 
delicacy. From the stalks thus prepared and 
fermented with bilberries, the Russians distil an 
ardent spirit which, Gmelin says, is more agreeable 
to the taste than spirits made from corn. A kind 
of ale is brewed from the leaves and seeds in 
Poland and Lithuania. Rabbits and swine are 
fond of the leaves, but not horses.’’] 


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SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


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27 .. 4.58 2! 8 GP bon BRIS Foy 
Jupiter... 17... 8827, 19" oO OHA Go HAS ej IN| 
Saturn ...17... 2.10 a.m. ... 8" 5 GY ong LU BIS) 
O7GNUS).. LZ) en (2:2 Boo 2) 15.44 19° 33/ S 
Neptune... 7... 4.3 p.m il 9) 5.8 21° 33/N 
Moon’s PHASES. 
him. him. 
New ...April2... 4.24a.m. 1st Qy. ... Aprilio ... 8.27a.m. 
EUS eee sey nlepess lOv25aem.) 370d) Or 4) a) 23) 62.9648) pms 


Sun.—Spots of considerable size continue to 
appear on the disc. During February and the 
early days of March much of interest showed itself 
both in actual change of appearance in the spots 
themselves and in real motion on the sun’s disc. 


Mercury is in superior conjunction with the 
sun at 3 a.m. on April 2nd, but from about the 
23rd to the end of the month is well placed for 
observation, setting more than two hours after the 
sun. He will be found very near the Pleiades, the 
cluster of bright stars in Taurus, about 1° south on 
the 27th, on which night he sets about 9.25. He 
shines with a brilliant, rosy light. He reaches 
greatest elongation east, 20° 33’, on April 28th. 


VENUus is visible early in the month, but at 7 p.m. 
on the 28th is in inferior conjunction with the sun. 
She is situated between a Arietis and the Pleiades all 
the month; her appearance is that of a crescent, 
growing narrower every day. To observers using 
an equatorial she may possibly be observed close 
to conjunction, a few degrees north of the sun. 


Mars is a tiny object, only observable with 
fairly large telescopes. He is in the constellation 
Gemini. At the beginning of the month he forms 
a triangle with the third-magnitude stars u and e 
Geminorum, and at the end he lies to the south- 
west of Pollux. 


JUPITER is in Leo, between Regulus and p Leonis 
on the rst, and gradually retrograding towards the 
former. He sets at 4.45 a.m. on April rst, and at 
2.49 a.m. on April 30th, so is visible all the even- 
ing hours, in good position. 

SATURN rises about 10.44 p.m. on the rst, and 
at 8.41 on the evening of the 30th. Were it 
not for his great south declination he would be a 
magnificent object. On the 15th the outer major 


311 


axis of the outer ring is 42°35, and the outer minor 
axis 1747, whilst the angular diameter of the 
planet is 16"°8, so that the rings extend beyond the 
poles. It is situate west-north-west of 8 Scorpia. 


Mereors should be looked for on April 11th, 
12th, rgth, and 2oth. 


VARIABLE STARS visible during April are :— 


R.A, Magnitude. 
: : hm. Dec. Max. Min. Period. 
S Virginis......... 13.26 (SI ERUS  (eho) I1'0 ©3736 days. 
a Bodtis } SOC 
T4,L0) I ING) 0:0 = 
(Arcturus) J : Fae 


LL. 26325 Bootis 14.18 BERSBING I Os5 8'5 | 


THE ROTATION PERIOD OF JUPITER.—The most 
recent determination is by Herr A. A. Nyland, 
who, from observations on some of the markings, 
gives a period rather exceeding gh. 55m. 30s., 
which is the period found by Beer and Madler. 
The late Sir G. B. Airy, in 1834, made it gh. 55m. 
21s., whilst Professor Schmidt, in 1866, gave as a 
mean gh. 55m. 46°3s. To obtain the exact rotation 
may appear easy to those unacquainted with close 
Jovian observation, but, as a fact, is practically an 
impossibility, because different objects give dif- 
ferent periods. In 1880 Mr. H. Pratt gave gh. 
55m. 33°9Ss. as the period determined by observa- 
tions on the great red spot. Mr. W. F. Denning, 
observing bright spots in the Equatorial Zone, 
found a period of gh. 50m. 5s., whilst from dark 
spots in the north Temperate Zone the same observer 
found the period was only alittle over gh. 48m. 
So that at the same time three classes of objects 
were giving three different rotation periods, differ- 
ing to the extent of more than seven minutes of 
time. 


BRILLIANT MeEtTEor.—Mr. S. H. R. Salmon, 
M.B.A.A., of South Croydon, writes to the ‘‘English 
Mechanic”: ‘‘ On February 2oth, 6h. 3m. 30s. p.m., 
I was admiring Venus in strong twilight, and turned 
eastward to see if Jupiter was yet visible, when an 
exceptionally splendid meteor fell from Gemini to- 
ward the head of Leo Major. It seemed to 
originate near Castor, and was quite equal to 
Venus in lustre, although not so white. When, in 
its fall, it was about equidistant from Castor and 
the horizon, it divided, the following portion being 
fainter, and having a reddish tinge. Then all 
quickly vanished, without any report that I could 
detect.”’ Is this the same meteor that was ob- 
served at Dover the same evening? Did any of 
our friends see it? 


JupITER’s SATELLITES.—In 1877-81 the writer 
made 424 observations of the relative brilliance of 
these little bodies, finding as a result that it could 
be represented thus: III: I, 11; IV. I, was usually 
brightest in that half of its orbit nearest the earth, 
especially when east of Jupiter. II; was brightest 
to the east of Jupiter, especially in the quadrant of 
its orbit nearest the earth. III: was brightest in 
the eastern half of its orbit, especially that part 
farthest from the earth, whilst it was faintest in the 
portion corresponding on the west of the planet. 
IV. was brightest in west superior and east inferior 
quadrants, and faintest in west inferior. II; wasthe 
most constant in brilliance, whilst IV. was the most 
variable. It almost seemed as if, like our own 
moon, they always presented the same face to 
the planet, but, unlike our own satellite, had 
atmospheres with considerable changes in meteoro- 
logical condition. 


* Variable in colour, yellow te yellowish red. 
+ Variable in colour, yellowish white to reddish. 


312 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Amone the recently elected members of the 
Geological Society of France was Mdlle. Marie 
Loyez, Professor of Natural Sciences, Paris. 


Mr. Ernest SwinHoe, Avenue House. Oxford, 
has sent us his sixth (1897) Catalogue of Exotic 
Butterflies and Moths, with prices of the speci- 
mens. 


A MEETING of the International Congress of 
Zoology will be held at Cambridge, com- 
mencing on August 23rd, 1898. Sir William 
Flower will be the President. 


SoME of our readers may be glad to know that 
there exists at 1, Stamford Road, Singapore, 
Straits Settlements, an agency for the supply of 
natural science objects. The proprietor has 
favoured us with one of his circulars. 


Messrs. R. anpd J. Beck, of 68, Cornhill, 
London, have issued a new catalogue of Petro- 
logical and Metallurgical Microscopes, at popular 
prices. It contains at least three new models, 
which should be of value to students of rocks and 
ores. 


M. G. Bucuet, who is in charge of the mission 
at Santa Cruz de la Palma (Canary Islands), is 
preparing a work upon the greater fish of the 
Western Coast of Africa. He will be glad to 
receive any zoological or other notes bearing on 
the subject. 


An important paper on “ The Land Mollusca of 
County Antrim,” by Mr. Robert Standen, which 
appeared in the January ‘Irish Naturalist,” 
has been reprinted and issued in pamphlet 
form by the author. 


THE Annual Report of the Society for the 
Protection of Birds for 1896, states that the 
members and associates reach nearly 18,000 in 
number. The excellent work done by this Society 
is well known. The Hon. Secretary is Mrs. 
Lemon, Hillcrest, Redhill, Surrey. 


A LEAF-MINING Pyralid in the habit of feeding 
in the larval state is a novelty of this large 
group of moths. Itis named Titanio helianthiales, 
and described in the “‘ Canadian Entomologist ” for 
March, by Mary E. Murtfeldt, of Kirkwood, Mo. 
It is said to be a irue leaf-miner and works 
between the cuticles of Helianthus. 


THe City oF LonpoN ENTOMOLOGICAL AND 
NaTURAL History Society propose to hold a 
Conversazione and Exhibition of Natural History 
Objects on Tuesday evening, April 27th, at 
the Library of the London Institute, Finsbury 
Circus. . Many well-known London naturalists, 
especially entomologists, have promised to exhibit. 
Musical selections and light refreshments will be 
given during the evening. The admission will be 
by ticket, two shillings each, which may be 
obtained from the Acting Secretary, Mr. H.A.Sauzé, 
4, Mount Villas, Sydenham Hill Road, S.E. 


AZECA ELONGATA, a supposed addition to the land- 
shells of Great Britain, is figured and described as 
a new species, by Mr. John W. Taylor, F.LS., in 
the ‘‘ Yorkshire Naturalist”’ for March last. 


Tue Journal of the Essex Technical Laboratories 
for February contains a well-written article upon 
‘* Sulphur in its relation to Crops.” There are also 
other articles which, though popularly written, are 
thoroughly scientific in character. The Journal is 
issued under the auspices of the Essex County 
Council, at the Laboratories, Chelmsford, and is 
only priced threepence. 


Messrs. FRIEDLANDER AND SON, of Berlin, have 
sent us ‘‘ Natural Novitates ” and their catalogue 
of botanical works (Cryptogamae) just issued. 
The latter contains forty pages of closely-printed 
titles of works. Other cataloges are issued by 
this firm on Fungi, Lichens, Algae, Characeae, 
Desmidieae and Diatomeae. Most of these subjects 
also occur among the titles in the catalogue 
before us. 


We observe that the Hull Scientific and Field 
Naturalists’ Club has commenced a cuttings book 
for insertion of nature notes of a local character. 
It is suggested that these should be discussed at the 
meetings before being entered. This is wise, for 
we have a fine collection of newspaper natural 
history, chiefly of an unconsciously humorous 
character. If one desires abundant inaccuracy, it 
will be found in newspaper cuttings on science 
subjects. 


We have received a “Supplementary List of 
the Bryozoa of the Chatham Chalk,” by Mr. W. 
Gamble, of Chatham. The first list published by 
Mr. Gamble was issued in 1892, and contained 125 
species and varieties. This second list, compiled 
last year, adds seventy-five species and varieties. 
As there does not appear to be any properly 
arranged collection of fossil polyzoa in this 
country, these lists cannot fail to be useful in 
indicating what may be expected from the chalk 
of the Chatham district, which has been diligently 
worked by Mr. Gamble for some years past. 


LANCASHIRE has recently lost two of its leading 
entomologists, both of whom will be sadly missed, 
having been authorities for the past forty years. 
Following the death of Joseph Chappell, of Man- 
chester, which occurred on October 3rd lasi, has 
come that of J. B. Hodgkinson, late of Preston. 
Both these men were excellent practical entomolo- 
gists, whose repute had extended to all parts 
of the world where English entomology is studied. 
Mr. Hodgkinson died in February last. Mr. 
Chappell was sixty-seven, and Mr. Hodgkinson 
seventy-four years old. 


THE illustrated supplement of the Paris Petit 
Journal, which newspaper is believed to have the 
largest circulation in the world, has latterly given 
much attention to popular natural history. This 
has taken the form of full-page coloured illustra- 
ticns of ‘‘ good and bad” fungi, otherwise poisonous 
and edible ; *‘ Birds useful to man,”’ is an important 
series of portraits of wild native birds to be 
preserved in France; “‘ Venomous and Harmless 
Reptiles of France’’ is another.series, and at 
present the poisonous planis of Western Europe 
are being illustrated. Such a series would do 
much good in Britain if produced at the same 
price, viz., one halfpenny per number, and as 
effectively coloured. 


| 
} 
| 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


AS SCIENCE ABROAD Ee 


Gee FY: Va = 


CONTRIBUTED By FLORA WINSTONE, 


La NaturALeEza (Madrid, Nos. 1 to 7, vol. viii., 
from January 8thto March 8th, 1897.) January 8th 
contains an article on the new Equatorial Telescope, 
made in Berlin, for the Observatory of Grunewald, 
with illustration. The report of the Congress on 
the Anthropology of Criminality is concluded, 
giving papers on this subject, of Herr van Hamel, 
Dimitri Drill and Professor Lombroso. Dr. 
Francisco Vidal y Careta continues his notes on 
the ‘‘ Races of Men who have successively inhabited 
Cuba,” and there is a further article on ‘‘ The 
Study of the Movements and Revolutions of 
Planets,” by Don Manuel G. Vidal_—The number 


for January 18th has a series of lengthy notes on 


“The Cultivation of Vines,’ by Don Ricardo 
Becerro de Bengoa, the Director of the magazine; 
Dr. F. Vidal y Careta and Don M. G. Vidal 
continue their articles above mentioned. February 
8th contains an article on ‘‘ The Perils of 
Acetylene,’ by an anonymous writer, also the 
continuation of ‘‘The Problem of Longtitude 
at Sea,” by Don J. de Irrea.—February 18th. 
Don R. Becerro de Bengoa gives an account of 
the creation, foundation and proposed work 
of the Institution of Experimental Hygiene 
at Montevideo. The Council of Instruction at 
Montevideo formulated in 1894 the project of such 
an institution, and it was decided that it should be 
founded on the same lines as the Laboratory of 


Bacteriology of the Faculty of Medicine. The list 
of subjects is very extensive. M.M.G. Demény 
contributes an illustrated article on ‘‘ Cinema- 


tography, or, as it is expressed in the article, 
“ Photographature of Movement.”” Drawings are 
given of the camera used by the author, and also of 
special appliances which render photographs of 
movement possible-—February 28th. Don R. 
Becerro de Bengoa contributes an article, with 
analyses, on ‘‘ The Combination of Argon and 
Helium.”’ An anonymous author writes on ‘‘ The 
Industrial Uses of Acetylene,’ and Don M. Gomez 
Vidal continues his series on ‘‘ The Study of the 
Movements and Revolutions of Planets.’’—The 
part for March 8th contains an article on ‘‘ Agri- 
culture in England,” and another on ‘‘ The Mines 
of the Transvaal,” by Don R. Becerro de Bengoa. 
A note on ‘‘ A War Automobile” gives an illustra- 
tion of a new auto-motor car, with guns mounted 
in front and at the back, sighting both ways. 


La FEUILLE DES JEUNES NATURALISTES (Paris : 
February, 1897). M. Adrien Dolfus has an 
illustrated article entitled ‘‘ Iconographic Table of 
the Philosciz of Europe,” a family of terrestrial 
crustacea or woodlice. He describes shortly but 
clearly the characters of the genus Philoscia, and 
especially those which distinguish them from the 
genus Oniscus and the genus Porcellioniens. M. 
Dolfus states that it requires a practised eye to tell 
at the first glance, Philoscia from Ligidium, but the 
much articulated ‘‘ scourge’ in the last genus isa 
character which distinguishes it. M. G. de 


523 


Lapouge contributes a valuable paper on ‘‘ The 
Phylogeny of Carabus.”” Hestates that Coleoptera 
are very unequal in their phylogenic evolution, but 
the group Carabus is, in general, advanced in its 
evolution; certain sections showing remarkable 
differences. The difference in each genus in the 
present day, and as represented on sculptures and 
other archeological records, is given in detail, and 
also, in some instances, the probable causes of the 
evolution of certain organs. In the next number 
of this magazine, M. Eug. Simon will commence 
his ‘‘ Synonymous Catalogue of the Trochilides’’ 
M. Et. Rebaud will contribute papers on the work 
recently done in ‘‘Cellular Division,” and the 
series of articles on ‘‘ Salt-water Molluscs’’ will be 
continued. 


BULLETIN DE LA SOCcIETE ZOOLOGIQUE DE 
FRANCE (Paris, 1897), contains the new statutes of 
the Zoological Society of France, which was 
founded June 8th, 1876, and incorporated Decem- 
ber 16th, 1896, by a decree of the Government. 
There is also a list of the members, honorary, 
corresponding and ordinary. The addresses of the 
retiring President, M. E. L. Bouvier, andof M. R. 
Moniez, President for 1897, are fully reported. M. 
Ernest Andree contributes a ‘‘ Description of three 
new species of Mutilla from Eastern Africa 
belonging to the Royal Museum of Belgium.”’ 
These three new species, which have been recently 
acquired by the Natural History Museum in 
Brussels, are Mutilla anguliceps (a single specimen 
was found in Delagoa Bay); M. trvungativentris (one 
specimen was found in Delagoa Bay and another 
exactly similar, labelled Africa, was sent to the 
Museum at Naples), and I. delagoensis (from Delagoa 
Bay, one specimen ; another, also labelled Africa, 
is in the Naples Museum). M. Ph. Dautzenberg 
and M. H. Fischer give an ‘‘ Account of the New 
Species of Pelecypodes,’’ found during the voyages 
of H.S.H. Prince Albert of Monaco. The same 
authors describe the ‘‘ New Species of Gastropods”’ 
obtained on these expeditions. M. Dautzenberg, in 
conjunction with M. E. de Boury, further gives an 
account of the ‘‘New Species belonging to the 
genera Scalaria and Mathilda” found the same time. 


PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC 
ENToMOLOGIsTS.—The U.S. Department of Agri- 
culture has issued a report of the eighth annual 
meeting of this association, which was held at 
Buftalo, N. Y., August 21st and 22nd, 1896, when 
the average attendance was about thirty persons 
interested in this subject. Mr. C. H. Fernald, of 
Amherst, Mass., the President, gave an important 
address, entitled ‘‘The Evolution of Economic 
Entomology.’’ He commenced by referring to the 
earliest accounts of injuries caused by insects, 
which appear to be those mentioned in the Old 
Testament and the earlier Greek and Latin authors. 
Passing thence to the year 875 a.p., the President 
referred to Berg’s ‘‘ History of the German Forests,” 
which gives an account of the devastation caused 
by grasshoppers in the Rhine valley. No efforts 
appear to have been made to check these 
ravages other than by processions of priests 
carrying holy relics around the infested fields. 
Later insect plagues were discussed, and the 
earlier means employed to arrest their damage. 
Commencing with the newer and more intelligent 
economic entomology, which may be said to have 
grown with the present century—very slowly 
during the first half—the President concluded 
with a valuable statement of its present condition 
and a forecast of work to be done in the future. 


314 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ARGYNNIS ADIPPE VAR. CHLORODIPPE. — The 
insects which I mentioned having taken in the 
New Forest last summer, under the impression 
that they were Avgynnis niobe (ante p. 138), have 
since been proved to be the variety chlorodippe of 
Argynnis adippe. Both were taken on August Ist, 
1896, between Lyndhurst and Brocklehurst. — 
Catherine A. Winckworth. 


Earty NESTING OF THRUSH.—A thrush com- 
menced building its nest in a yew-tree in my 
garden on February 27th. The nest was very 
soon completed, and the first egg was laid on 
March 7th. This is earlier than these birds 
generally commence nesting with us, but the 
weather has been mild since the beginning of 
February.—Edward Ransom, Sudbury, Suffolk ; March, 
1897. 

A SWALLOW IN FEBRUARY.—On February 13th,a 
swallow was seen in this village, but has since dis- 
appeared. It was first noticed settled on the roof 
of a stable, and gave its observer the opportunity 
of watching it for sometime. As it could scarcely 
be an immigrant at so early a date, it was probably 
a late-hatched specimen which had failed to 


migrate. The specimen has been observed several. 


times since —C. A. Briggs, Rock House, Eynmouth, 
North Devon; March, 1897. 

THE VALUE OF SPECIMENS.—The Reginald 
Cholmondeley collection of shells was sold by 
auction on March 15th. It contained many fine 
specimens of Murex, Voluta, Conus, Pecien, and 
Spondylus. A choice Murex monodon fetched £3; 
a very good specimen of Cyprea aurantia, £2 158.; 
a Conus crocatus, {1 1s.; a Conus omaicus, £2 58.; 
a Conus rhododendron, £1 1s. A Pecten rveevet sold 
for {1 ts. Among the genus Voluta, V. aulica 
fetched £6 6s.; V. lyreformis, £4; V. junonia, 
£1 58.; V. pulchva, £1 10s. Cyclostoma formosum 
and C. deburghig together sold for £2 2s. 


AGE OF YEW-TREES.—It is seldom that we have 
the opportunity of fixing the age of yew-trees, and, 
therefore, it is interesting to note that at Hurst- 
bourne Tarrant, near Andover, are two in the 
churchyard, which are quite in their prime, the 
time of whose planting is recorded in the parish 
register. Writing to ‘‘ Notes and Queries’? some 
time ago, Mr. W. P. W. Phillimore, of London, 
says, ‘‘The older of the two is on the western 
side of the churchyard, and is 8 feet 4 inches in 
circumference at the base, but diminishes to 6 feet 
8 inches at the height of five feet. The one is aged 
a little over two hundred years, as shown by the 
following entry: ‘The eutree next to ye vicar’s 
garden, planted by Sam. Heskins (vicar) in ye year 
1693.’ The other, situated on the south side of the 
churchyard, measures incircumference 7 feet 2 inches 
both at the base and five feet higher up. This isa 
century and a-half old, as appears from the 
register: ‘Memorandum, October the roth, 1741. 
There was an yew-tree planted in the churchyard 
pretty near the outward rails, by the order and at 
the expense of the parish.’ ”’—Benj.Winstone, Epping. 


MaRINE ZOOLOGY OF CROMER.—As | am thinking 
of visiting Cromer this spring, will anyone kindly 
inform me, through the columns of SciENcE-GossIP, 
if that district is a good collecting-ground for 
marine objects, such as Crustaceans, Echinoderms, 
etc.? I take a great interest in marine fauna, and 
wish, if possible, to go to a place where I can add 
to my collection, but shall not be able to go farther 
afield than Cromer. Would it be any use dredging 
with a small naturalist’s dredge off the coast, or is 
it too sandy? I should also be obliged if referred 
to any book on the marine zoology of Cromer 
district—H. W. Parritt, 8, Whitehall Park, Archway 
Road, London, N. 


TINTED SHADOWS.—I always thought shadows 
were all much of a colour, indeed, shades of the 
same colour according to the power of the light 
producing them. The other night, when reading, 
two incandescent burners being alight, I noticed on 
my book a double shadow of my hand and cigar- 
holder, one being pale pink and the other pale 
green. The lights were shaded, one with a globe 
of scarcely perceptible pink tint, the other with a 
similar globe, but with a ruby chimney. On 
turning out either of these, the shadow from the 
other was of the ordinary colour, but upon turning 
it up again, the two shadows reappeared, one pink, 
the other green, as before. Can this be explained ? 
—E. M. Stone, Cumnor, Sydenham; oth January, 
1897. 


Larva OF CoMMoN ExeL.—The embryo condition 
of the common eel has long puzzled embryologists. 
Some time ago we drew attention in these pages 
to its discovery by the Italian naturalists, Grassi 
and Calandruccio. They found the larval con- 
dition of eels to be identical with a well-known 
marine form, Leptocephaius. That was in 1892, 
though it had already been suggested these animals 
were probably a larval form of some fish, by an 
American, as early as 1864. In ‘“‘ Nature,” for 
March 18th last, Mr. J. T. Cunningham figured 
these early stages, and contributes some valuable 
notes upon their history. It is curious that the 
sun-fish appear to feed largely on the young 
eels. This fact seems to prove that both they and 
the eels are species living at great depths, as 
neither are often seen at the surface of the sea. 
When the eel-iry enter the rivers they are about 
one year old. The ova are deposited by the 
parent eels in the sea, and they migrate from the 
fresh-water for this purpose. 


DERIVATION OF ‘‘ CLEAT.”—With regard to the 
derivation of ‘‘ Cleat ’ Hill (ante pp. 165 and 225), 
it is not unlikely it may have got the name from the 
smooth face or escarpment to the Oxford clay 
there. In the North of England coalfields, the 
large smooth vertical surfaces of the coal are 
known by the names of the ‘face,’ the ‘‘slyne,” 
or the ‘“‘ cleat’ (vide Jukes and Geikie, “‘ Manual of 
Geology,” p. 179). At Cleat Hill, Bedford, the 
Oxford clay is worked for brick-making from the 
edge of the flat up the hill slope until it meets the 
cap of boulder clay above, so that the whole face 
of the hill—the cleat hill—is laid bare. Ofcourse— 
at least I suppose that the word ‘‘cleat’’ was applied 
to this hill anterior to the time of the brick-making 
operations carried on there. On referring to the 
six-inch Ordnance map I see the words ‘‘ Cleat 
Hill ” are engraved close to, and parallel with, the 
steepest bit of the road that runs up over the 
escarpment. Although there is a place on the 
top of the hill called Cleat Hill Farm, the map 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


shows it is only the steep bit of road that is 
known as Cleat Hill. The other side of the road 
is Mowsbury Hill, where, I believe, there was once 
a castle-—A. C. G. Cameron, H.M. Geological Survey, 
158, Foster Hill Road, Bedford ; February, 1897. 


REPRODUCTION OF Lost Limps 1n Birpbs.--~-In 
connection with a query as to the above, appearing 
in SCIENCE-GossIp (ante p. 225), the following 
curious circumstance has come under my notice: 
Mrs. Newcomb, of the Holly Bush Inn, Loughton, 
Essex, had, early in 1895, a tame magpie, and also 
kept, amongst other pets, several canaries. One 
day this magpie seized one of the canaries by the 
leg, through the bars of its cage, and succeeded in 
wrenching the leg off by breaking it between the 
tibia and canon-bone. At this moment the canary 
was rescued, and, although very much exhausted, 
survived, perching on one leg. It was noticed, 
however, some little time afterwards that the stump 
of the damaged leg was apparently growing a sort 
of pear-shaped bag or bladder, and this continued 
for about six or seven months, when one morning 
it split open, and disclosed two claws at first ; the 
next day, however, the complete leg appeared, and 
the bird picked off the now dried-up skin cover. It 
was a week or two longer before the leg was used 
constantly, the bird only using it fora few moments 
at atime until then, and drawing it up under its 
wing in the intervals. Afterwards the new leg 
became to all intents and purposes the same in 
appearance, and quite as strong as the uninjured 
member. I understand the canary was a young 
bird, and there are plenty of reliable witnesses 
resident in Loughton who can confirm the par- 
ticulars supplied to me by the lady who kept the 
bird. —F. W. Halfpenny, 125, Godwin Road, Forest 
Gate. 


LEPIDOPTERA IN NEw Forest.—A fortnight’s 
stay in the New Forest, in the neighbourhood of 
Lyndhurst, last August, resulted in various ad- 
ditions to our insect collection, though the weather, 
on the whole, wss unfavourable. We were a little 
late for Argynnis paphia (silver-washed fritillaries), 
specimens of which, though still abundant and 
looking lovely on the wing, were as a rule very 
damaged. We also took the variety valesina, though 
not in very good condition. On the heaths fine 
specimens of Satyvus semele (grayling butterfly) were 
exceedingly common, their short, rapid flights and 
frequent settling giving a characteristic effect. We 
took a variety of the female in which black spots 
on the fore-wing were not white-pupilled and the 
black spot on the hind-wing was absent. The 
specimens of Pieris napi (green-veined white butter- 
fly) in this neighbourhood were well marked, but 
unusually small. A P. rape (small white butterfly) 
was obtained, with the usual dull yellow of the 
underwings a brilliant brimstone tint. Heaths, 
arguses, brimstones, blues and other butterflies 
were abundant, and we several times saw Apatura 
ivis (purple emperor butterfly) circling round the 
tops of the trees. The moths which came most 
freely to sugar were Amphipyra pyvamidea (copper 
underwing), Catocala promissa and C. sponsa (dark 
and light crimson underwings). The copper under- 
wings were a perfect nuisance, while the yellow 
underwings were of tolerably rare occurrence. 
Hydrecia nictitans (ear-moth) was the only other 
species that was at all abundant. Our remaining 
captures were nearly all of single specimens, in- 
cluding Agrotis puta, Thyativa batis, Cerigo cytherea, 
Noctua vhomboidea, etc.—Catherine A. Winckworth, 
11, Old Steine, Brighton ; March 15th, 1897. 


315 


AOE ee es 
eg 5 THINVICTIONS 
Y i atti, “Ws Me | 


RoyaL METEOROLOGICAL Society. — At the 
Meeting held on February 17th, Mr. Edward 
Mawley, F.R.H.S., President, read a Report on 
the Phenological Observations during the past 


year. He showed that throughout the flowering 
season wild plants came into bloom much in 
advance of their usual time, and were, as a rule, 
earlier than in any recent year since 1893. The 
wealth of blossom on nearly all kinds of trees and 
shrubs was a noteworthy feature of the spring and 
early summer, while the abundance of wild fruits in 
the autumn was even more exceptional. From an 
agricultural and horticultural point of view the one 
great drawback of the year, which must other- 
wise have proved one of the most bountiful on 
record, was a drought that lasted almost without 
break—at all events as far as vegetation is con- 
cerned—from March to September. The wheat crop 
proved the largest and best for many years, while 
there was a good yield of barleyand potatoes. The 
small fruits were also good. With these exceptions 
all the farm and garden crops were more or less 
indifferent, the crop of hay being especially scanty. 
The Hon. Rollo Russell gave the results of some 
observations on ‘‘ Haze and Transparency,’’ which 
he had made at Haslemere, in Surrey. From these 
it appears that the clearest hours ata good distance 
from towns are from about noon to 3p.m. The 
clearest winds are those from south to north-west 
inclusive, and especially west-south-west, west and 
west-north-west ; the haziest are those between 
north and east. On bright mornings with a 
gentle breeze or calm, from autumn to spring, the 
haze or fog which has lain on the low ground, 
frequently covers the hills in the course of its 
ascent a few hours after sunrise. At any distance 
within a hundred miles of London or of the Black 
Country observations requiring clear views are 
likely to be interfered with when the wind blows 
from their direction, and should betaken early. In 
connection with the Society’s special exhibition 
of instruments (vide ante p. 307), which was 
arranged at the Institution of Civil Engineers, 
in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of 
H.M. the Queen, alecture was delivered on 
Marchi ir thy ipys  Winw Goa syOnS a PRES 
on ‘‘ Meteorological Observations in 1837 and 
1897.’’ After describing some of the instruments 
in use at the commencement of the Queen's 
reign, the lecturer stated that he had collected all 
the known records of rainfall for the year 1837, 
and that he was able to give the total rainfall for 
that year from 161 stations. An account was then 
given of the meteorological instruments in use at 
the present day, reference being made to the 
barometer, thermometer, hygrometer, rain gauges, 
anemometers, self-recording instruments, etc. The 
methods adopted for registering the duration of 
sunshine and the amount of evaporation were next 
described. Allusion was also made to the help 
which photography has rendered to meteorology, 
especially in relation to the forms and movement 
of clouds, etc. Mr. Symons concluded his lecture 
by exhibiting a map showing the state of the 


316 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


weather over Western Europe at 8 a.m. the same 
morning of the lecture, which throughout was illus- 
trated by numerous lantern-slides. Mr. Birt Acres 
showed on the screen, by means of his cinemato- 
scope, some very interesting studies of clouds, and 
also of waves at Dover during the storm on 
March 3rd last. 

NorFOLK AND NoRWICH NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY. 
—At the meeting of the Norfolk and Norwich 
Naturalists’ Society which was held on February 
23rd, at the Castle Museum, Norwich, the 
President, Sir F. G. M. Boileau, in the chair, Mr. 
Clement Reid, F.G.S., sent a note stating that it 
had been recently discovered that the much-debated 
Pavadoxocarpus, not uncommon in the Cromer forest- 
bed, is the fruit of the water-soldier (Stvatiotes 
aloides). It seems difficult to obtain the ripe fruits 
of Stratiotes in this country, and in Germany it does 
not appear to fruit at all freely. Notes on ‘ Pallas’ 
willow-warbler and other rare European warblers,”’ 
by Mr. H. E. Dresser, F.L.S., were read. One of 
the most interesting additions that has lately been 
made to the avi-fauna of the British Islands is 
certainly that of Pallas’ willow-warbler (Phylloscopus 
provegulus), a single example of which was shot at 
Cley-next-the-Sea, on October 31st, 1896, by 
Mr. Ramm. With regard to the range of this bird, 
it was, until comparatively recently, looked on as 
strictly an Asiatic species, which had on one or two 
occasions strayed into Europe proper; but Mr. 
Zaruduy has found that it occurs regularly on the 
western slopes of the Ural. In Asia, amongst other 
places, it is recorded from near Lake Baikal, from 
the Himalayas, Kashmir, Gilgit, and other places. 
It frequently passes the winter in Central and 
Southern China. Although Pallas’ willow-warbler 
cannot be separated specifically from the Phylloscopi, 
it approaches very nearly in its general habits 
and nidification to the golden-crested wren. Dr. 
Dybowsbi writes that ‘‘its note is melodious and 
powerful, and its song varied and sweet, and so 
loud that it rings through the forest, and is 
astonishing as coming from so small a bird.” Some 
remarks were added by the author of the paper on 
other eastern warblers which had strayed as far 
west as the British Islands. Mr. Patterson (Hon. 
Secretary Great Yarmouth section) read his inte- 
resting ‘‘ Notes” for October, November, December, 
1896, and January, 1897. Mr.J.H.Gurney,F.Z.S., 
read his report on ‘‘ Norfolk Ornithology for 1896.” 


THE SoutH LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND 
NATURAL History Socizety.—February 25th, 1897. 
Mr. R. Adkin, F.E.S., President in the chair. 
Mr. Bishop, of Kingston-on-Thames, was elected a 
member. Mr. Billups exhibited for Mr. Sauzé 
some seventy species of Diptera, Coleoptera, 
Neuroptera, etc., which had been taken during 
last year. Mr. Tutt, specimens of Agiais (Vanessa) 
uvlice, var. ichnusa, from Corsica, and remarked that 
Mr. Merrifield’s experiments had resulted in only an 
approximation to this var.; he also showed speci- 
mens of Thats cerisyi, var. deyrolit, from South-East 
Europe. Mr. Adkin, two series of Pachnobia 
hyperbovea (alpina), one from Rannock and the other 
from Shetland, and made remarks on its local 
variation and its unaccountably intermittent 
appearance. In the discussion which followed, 
Mr. McArthur gave his experience of its appearance 
in alternate years. Mr. Tutt suggested that 
the species still retained its boreal habit of remain- 
ing two years in a larval condition. Mr. Adkin 
instanced Retinia resinella as having a precisely 
similar habit. Mr. Mansbridge, a smoky var. of 


Spilosoma lubricipeda, from York. Mr. Tunaley, a 
large number of species from Aviemore to illustrate 
his paper and including long and very varied series 
of Evebia aethiops, Eupithecia sobvinata, Larentia 
didymata, Thera simulata, T. firmata, Cidavia immanata, 
Emmelesia minovata, Pedisca ophthalmicana, Gelechia 
populella, and others, especially selected to show the 
range of variation occurring in that locality. Mr. 
Tunaley then read a paper, entitled ‘‘ Notes and 
Observations in a Holiday in the Black Forest of 
Scotland from July 29th to September roth, 1896.” 
In a few words he described the geographical 
surroundings and the geological formation of the 
district, together with an account of the weather he 
experienced, and some remarks on the necessary 
equipment for collecting among the Scotch 
mountains. He then took the more prominent 
species, and described the variations, peculiar habits 
of life, and their protective resemblances. Several 
of the species were noted as having different times 
of appearance at different elevations, ¢.g., E. ethiops. 
He said that Eloantha solidaginis at rest on a fir 
post closely resembled a piece of curled bark, and 
pointed out the extensive variation in the central 
band of T. juniperata. The paper was interspersed 
with apt remarks on Scotch characteristics, and 
terse descriptions of the environment of each 
species. In the discussion which followed, Mr. 
Tutt compared the habits of E. ethiops in the Alps 
with the species in Scotland, and also contrasted 
the allied species, E. ligea, which hid in the fir-trees 
on the disappearance of the sun. Mr. Barrett said 
that Epinephele janiva also roosted in the branches 
of trees at sunset.—Hy. J. Turner, Hon. Report. Sec. 


NortH Lonpon NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
Thursday, January 28th, 1897, Mr. C. Nicholson, 
President, in the chair. Miss Florence Villars was 
elected a member of the society. Mr. Watson 
narrated how, on January 23rd, in Highams Park, he 
had rescued a chaffinch which was caught by the 
wing in a hawthorn bush with the loss of about 
one feather. Mr. Prout summarised the season, 
for Entomology, of 1896. For mere collectors it 
had been one of the worst ever known, but it was 
pleasant to be able to record an unwonted 
abundance of most of the butterflies throughout 
the country, the most noteworthy being Vanessa 
antiopa and Aporia crataegi. Sugar had been very 
disappointing, but 1896 had been an exceptionally 
good year for the local Dicycla 00, and Caradrina 
ambigua had turned up in great numbers. One 
Leucania vitellina, one L. unipuncta and a few 
L. albipuncta had likewise been recorded, whilst 
Pachnobia hyperborea, Noctua sobrina and Catocala 
fraxini had occurred in the north. Mr. Barrett 
had recorded a new species, or marked local form, 
of Leucania from the east coast, under the name 
of L. favicolor, and Mr. Carrington had added 
Calophasia platyptera to the British list. Mr. Prout 
then reviewed the scientific work of 1896, mention- 
ing particularly Professor Poulton’s paper to the 
Entomological Society ‘‘On the Courtship of 
certain European Acrididae”’; Mr. Bacot’s work, 
in conjunction with Mr. F. N. Pierce, of Liverpool, 
in rearing hybrids of Smevinthus ocellatus-popult ; 
Dr. Chapman’s paper ‘‘On the Phylogeny and 
Evolution of the Lepidoptera from a pupal and 
oval standpoint’; and Sir Geo. Hampson’s 
“Classification of three sub-families of Moths of 
the family Pyralide.’”’ Mr. Wattson summarised 
the work in the Odonata during 1896. In the 
«‘ Entomologists’ Monthly Magazine’’ for August, 
Mr. McLachlan recorded the capture of eight 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Benagrion mercuviale out of less than a dozen seen 
in the only known English locality, a certain 
ditch in the New Forest. Ornithological and 
astronomical summaries of 1896 were also delivered 
by Messrs. Austin and C. Nicholson respectively.— 
Lawrence J. Tvemayne, Hon. Secretary. 


HuLL SCIENTIFIC AND FIELD NATURALISTS’ 
Cius.—The usual fortnightly meeting was held in 
the Friendly Societies’ Hall, Hull, on Wednesday 
evening, February 17th, Mr. Paul Davis occupied 
the chair. Notice was given that it was the 
intention of the Club to hold an Exhibition in the 
Autumn, and the members were requested to bear 
this in mind during the summer, with the view of 
making it a thorough success. The Secretary 
presented a ‘‘Newspaper Extract Book” to the 
Club, in which he had inserted one or two extracts 
of local natural history interest. The members 
were asked to cut out suitable paragraphs for 
insertion from any papers which they may read, 
and bring them to the Club, together with the 
name and date of the paper. If this is carried out 
the Club will, in time to come, be in possession of 
a valuable record. The Curator kindly undertook 
to take charge of the book. It was suggested that 
the paragraphs, if not too numerous, should be 
read at each meeting, and, if necessary, discussed, 
as were the extracts already referred to. Several 
members gave vent to their feelings respecting the 
manner in which so-called scientific men are the 
means of exterminating rare species, both of 
animals and plants. A further series of South 
African butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, etc., was 
exhibited. Mr. C. Waterfall handed round a 
specimen of the lesser reed-grass (Calamagrostis 
lanceolata) which he had obtained from Hornsea 
Mere last Autumn; the plant is an addition to 
the flora of the East Riding. Mr. J. F. Robinson, 
a Vice-President of the Club, then read a paper on 
‘‘Charles Darwin and Evolution.” The lecturer 
then gave a vesumé of Darwin's greatest scientific 
achievements, and described his method of working 
as slow, but sure. The paper was illustrated by a 
number of excellent drawings and specimens, which 
included examples of ‘* Protective Colouration.” 
A discussion followed, in which Messrs. Davis, 
Stather, Audas, Seath and Hill took part.— 
At the meeting held on March 3rd, the Presi- 
dent, Dr. J. Hollingworth, M.R.C.S., occupied 
the chair. Mr. J. W. Boult exhibited specimens 
of some of the most notable of our British 
butterflies, together with examples of the same 
species from Germany, India, Assam, Japan, 
Africa, and other parts of the world. This most 
instructive series afforded an excellent opportunity 
of studying the variations which exist in butterflies 
from different climates. Mr. Boult also handed 
round some specimens of the small white ant from 
South Africa, which is such a pest to naturalists in 
that part of the world. Mr. J. Porter reported the 
capture of a specimen of Hybernia leucophearia, at 
Anlaby, near Hull. Though this moth cannot be 
said to be a rarity, it does not appear to have been 
previously noticed in the Hull neighbourhood. 
From the reports of excursions made, given by 
Messrs. Robinson, Boult, and Porter, it would 
seem that some sections of the club are already 
engaging themselves in field work. Several 
extracts from the local press were handed over to 
the curator for insertion in the scrap-book. Some 
of these were read. Mr. T. Audas, L.D.S., then 
read a paper on ‘‘ The Migration of Birds.” The 
lecturer explained that it is only during the last 
few years that any works have been published 


317 


respecting this important subject, andit is from the 
efforts of Charles Dickson, H. Giitke, and a Com- 
mittee of the British Association, that most of our 
information on the migration of birds is derived. 
The final report of the British Association Com- 
mittee, published in the ‘‘Liverpool’’ (1896) 
number of the Proceedings, gives valuable informa- 
tion on the point, which has been principally 
derived from the records collected at the various 
lighthouses and lightships around our coasts. 
With the assistance of a map of the world, the 
routes taken by various species of birds during 
their summer and winter migrations were pointed 
out by the lecturer, and a resumé given of the 
explanations offered by different people as to the 
origin and cause of these migrations. A lengthy 
discussion ensued, in which the President and 
several members took part. Owing to the lateness 
of the hour, the Secretary's paper on the ‘‘ Extinct 
Animals of Holderness,”’ was deferred until some 
future occasion. Some specimens, brought by Mr. 
Walker to illustrate this Paper, were handed round 
at the close of the meeting. These consisted of 
exceptionally fine antlers and bones of the red 
deer (Cervus elaphus) from the ‘‘submerged forest ”’ 
at Withernsea, and a mammoth tooth in excellent 
preservation, also from this district.—T. Sheppard, 
Hon. Sec., 78, Sherburn Street, Hull. 


CAMBRIDGE ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History Society.—The annual meeting was held 
on February 26th, Dr. Sharp in the chair. Pro- 
fessor Newton, the professor of zoology, was 
elected an honorary member. Mr. Harmer, of 
King’s College, was elected President for the 
following year. Dr. Sharp exhibited a larva of 
one of our common Geotrupes, and called attention 
to its stridulating organ, in which one pair of 
legs work upon the pair in front of them. He said 
that this beetle in the imago state also possesses a 
stridulating organ, but it is situated in a different 
position anatomically, and therefore not corres- 
ponding with the larval organ. The latter is lost 
in the imago, and it is clear that this elaborate 
structure exists solely for the larval state. Dr. 
Sharp acknowledged that he was unable to guess 
what use such a structure could be toa larva leading, 
as this does, an underground life, and having, as 
far as we know, no relations with the lives of 
individuals of its own species that could be 
influenced by any sound it might make. — At 
the meeting of the Society held on March 
12th, the President in the chair, Dr. Sharp 
exhibited, on behalf of Dr. Haviland, part 
of his magnificent collection of termites. His 
method of preparation consists in placing the 
various forms of a species found in one nest in 
glass tubes, divided into compartments by cotton- 
wool, and filled with spirit. A photograph of a 
termitarium of Termes malayansis, taken tn situ after 
it had been sectionised, showed the royal cell in 
the middle of the structure, and the chambers for 
growing fungi—this species being a fungus grower 
—about the periphery. Portions of this nest and 
individuals taken from it were exhibited. The 
nest is composed of thin fragile lamine of a 
pottery-like structure, but the royal cell, composed 
of this substance, is very thick and solid. The 
fungus-chambers are not constructed of clay, but 
of comminuted vegetable matter, subsequently 
cemented together. The specimens taken from 
this nest includes two queens and one king from 
the royal cell, large and small soldiers, and large- 
headed and small-headed workers.—L. Doncaster, 
Hon. Sec., King’s College, Cambridge. 


318 


NOTICES OF SOCIETIES. 


Tue GEOLOGISTS’ ASSOCIATION OF LONDON. 

April 2.—8 p.m., at University College, Gower Street. 
‘* Physical History of Romney Marsh”: George 
Dowker, F.G.S. ‘Collection of Flint Imple- 
ments from Cookham”: Llewellyn Treacher, 
F.G.S. 


Excursions and Conductors. 


»» 3.—Chesham and Cowcroft. Meet 1.20 p.m., Baker 
Street Station. Return fare, 2s.5d.; tea, 1s. 6d. 
each. Upfield Green, F.G.S. 

», 10.—Aylesbury, Hartwell and Stone. Baker Street 
Station, 1.20p.m. Return fare, 3s. 8d.; tea, 1s. 2d. 
each. A. M. Davies, F.G.S.,and Percy Emary, 
F.G.S. 

», 15.—Easter Excursion, from April 15th to 2oth, to 
Walmer, St. Margaret’s, Dover, Folkestone and 
Romney Marsh. Fare, 8s. 1d. Hotels’ tariff, gs. 
per day. 

1.—Cookham. Paddington Station, 1.40 p.m. LI. 
Treacher, F G.S. 

», 8.—Whole day. Southborough and Tunbridge Wells 

(Kent). G. Abbott, M.R.C.S. 
3, 15.—Chislehurst (Kent). W. Whitaker, F.R.S., and T. 
V. Holmes, F.G.S. 

22.—Erith (Kent). Flaxman C. J. Spurrell, F.G.S. 

5 to 8.—Whitsuntide. Cheltenham (Gloucestershire). 
E. Wethered, F.G.S., and S. S. Buckman, F.G.S. 

5, 19.—Whole day. Leighton (Bedfordshire). A. C. G. 
Cameron. 

», 26.—Merstham (Surrey). G. J. Hinde, Ph.D., F.R.S., 

and W. Whitaker, F.R.S. 
to.—Whole day. Peterborough (Northamptonshire). 
A. N. Leeds, F.G.S., and A. S. Woodward, F.G.S. 

1, 17.—Bishop’s Stortford (Herts.). Rev. Dr. Irving, 

F.G.S. 


» 26to31.—Long Excursion. Edinburgh. Prof. James 
Geikie, LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S.; J. G. Goodchild, 
F.G.S., and H. W. Monckton, F.G.S. 


For particulars of these excursions, apply to Horace W. 
Monckton, Esq., Secretary for Excursions, 10, King’s Bench 
Walk, Temple, E.C. 


City oF LoNDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY 
SOCIETY. 


April 27.—Exhibition. See page 312. 


THE SoutH Lonpon ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History Society. 
Apr. 8—‘‘ Onthe Nature of Genera.’ By J. W. Tutt, F.E.S. 
+ 22.—‘‘ Some British Spider-crabs.” By E. Step, F.L.S. 
Papers have also been promised by F. Merrifield, F.E.S., 


G. R. Grote and others.—Hy. P. Turner, Hon. Report Sec. 


Nortu Lonpon Naturat History Society.— The following 
are amongst the fixtures for next session: 


Apr. 8.—Discussion: ‘‘ The Filices or Ferns.” Opened by 
R. W. Robbins. 
», 22.—‘The British Corvide” (the Crow family). S. 
Austin. 


May 13.—‘‘ My trip to Highcliffe, and what I found in the 
Barton Beds.’ J. Burman Rosevear, M.C\S. 

» 15.—Whole-day Excursion to Brentwood. 

», 27.—‘ Dorsetshire Notes.” J. Wheeler, M.C.P. 
June 4-7.—Excursion to the New Forest. 

» 10.—Debate: ‘‘Is Vivisection Justifiable?”’ 

», 19.—Half-day Excursion to the Lea Valley. 

» 24.—‘*Clothes-Moths.” J. B. Casserley. 

There will also be a special-family discussion, entitled 
““The Liparide,” to be opened by A. Bacot on some date 
not yet fixed.—Lawvence J. Tremayne, Hon. Secretary. 


LAMBETH FIELD CLUB AND ScIENTIFIC SocIETY.—We have 
received the following list of fixtures for the forthcoming 
session : 


April 5.—‘‘ Simple Types of Plant Life.” 
» 10.—Visit to Zoological Gardens. 
», 19.—Easter Monday.—Outing to Effingham. 
3.—‘‘Some of our Smaller Song-birds.’’ 
Harvey-Piper. 
as 8.—Outing to Sanderstead (with Selborne Scciety). 
»  22.—Visit to Kew Gardens. 
June 7.—Whit-Monday.—Outing to Cheshunt. 
» 19.—Outing to Caterham. H. Wilson, Hon. Sec., 
14, Melbourne Square, Brixton Road. 


E. J. Davies. 


Br) VW 


LEICESTER LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
April 21.—‘‘Stray Notes on the Aphodii and other Allies.” 
C.B Headly, F.E.S. 
May 26.—‘‘Parthenogenesis as it 
Bouskell, F.E.S. 
5 to 9.—Excursion. 
23.—“‘ Notes on Arancidz (Spiders) of Leicestershire.” 


affects Insects.’ F. 


June 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 


To CoRRESPONDENTS AND EXCHANGERS.—SCIENCE-GOSSIP 
is published on the 25th of each month. All notes or other 
communications should reach us not later than the 18th of 
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admitted free. 

Noricre.—Contributors are requested to strictly observe the 
following rules. All contributions must be clearly written 
on one side of the paper only. Words intended to be 
printed in ztalics should be marked under with a single line. 
Generic names must be given in full, excepting where used 
immediately before. Capitals may only be used for generic, 
and not specific names _ Scientific names and names of 
places to be written in round hand. 

Tue Editor is not responsible for unused MSS., neither 
can he undertake to return them, unless accompanied with 
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SUBSCRIPTIONS.—Subscriptions to ScrENCE-GossIpP, at the 
rate of 6s. 6d. for twelve months (including postage), should 
be remitted to the Proprietors, 86, St. Martin’s Lane, 
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At. editorial communications, books or instruments tor 
review, specimens for identification, etc., to be addressed to 
Joun T. CARRINGTON, 1, Northumberland Avenue, London, 
W.C. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


C. E. L. (St. John’s).—Mr. Oliver Janson, of Great Russell 
Street, W.C., will advise you most satisfactorily upon the 
best books on Coleoptera, and quote you prices. Either 
Rye’s or Fowler’s will suit you better than the first named. 

R. B. (Darlington)—Can any of your readers recommend 
any good illustrated books on Diatoms? 

S. H. S. (London).—The web is made by the gregarious 
larve of Eviogaster lanestris. 

W. H. F. (Acocks Green).—If you refer to any good work 
on structural botany, we think you will find what you require 
on growth of trees. Also see Loudon’s work on “ Trees”; it 
is a standard work. 

C. FieLpinc (Halifax).—Can any one tell me if the voice ot 
the late Professor Huxley was ever recorded by means of a 
phonograph ? 

EXCHANGES. 

Notice.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including 
name and address) admitted free, but additional words must 
be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words 
or less. 


Parr Collins’ C eye-pieces, stand condenser, good micro- 
slides, slide cabinet, photo-micrographs, Wiedersheim’s 
‘““Anatomy of Vertebrates,’’ Prautl-Vines’ ‘‘ Botany,” Hep- 
worth’s ‘‘Lantern Book,’ Hogg’s microscope, Nicholson’s 
“Manual of Zoology.’’ What offers? Wanted, crustaceans, 
sponges, star-fish, sea-urchins, foreign shells —H. W. Parritt, 
8, Whitehall Park, N. 

DupLicaTEs.—Several hundred British Coleoptera and 
Lepidoptera; desiderata, local Lepidoptera and foreign 
stamps.—A. Ford, Claremont, Alington Road, Bournemouth. 

D1aTomMs.—I will send a splendid spread-slide of Diatoma- 
cee from River Skerne, Co. Durham, in exchange for any 
other Diatom slide. Open to offers——R. Borrows, 1%, 
Pensbury Street, Darlington. 

WANTED, living examples of Helix lamellata and aculeata, 
Vitrea dfaparnaudi, Testacella; also Vertigo angustior, 
Succinea oblonga. Exchange rarer British shells— Wilfred 
Mark Webb, Ellerie, Crescent Road, Brentwood. 

OFFERED, “ Natural Science,” first nine vols., first three 
half calf. Wanted, Darwin’s “Fertilization of Orchids,” 
Miller’s ‘‘Fertilization of Flowers,’ British flowers, 
European butterflies, or cash.—T. Stephenson, Burnham, 
Somerset. 

OFFERED, rarer and smaller British marine shells, polished 
corals, spongy forms, fossils, slides, minerals, objects, etc. 
Wanted, specimens of Clifton landscape marble. Exchanges 
numerous.—A. Sclater, Natural History Store, Teignmouth. 

WANTED, }-inch homogeneous objective in exchange for 
a first-class experimental hand dynamo.—R. Williamson, 3, 
Keir Street, Pollokshields, Glasgow. 

OFFERED, vars. of H. hortensis and nemoralis, etc., for 
Anadonta cygnea, Paludina contecta, Unio margaritifer, etc. 
—W. Domaille, 37, Argyle Road, St. Paul’s, Bristol. 

WANTED, offers for SCIENCE-GossIP, 1865 to 1896 inclusive, 
I to 28 in publisher’s cover, remainder unbound; in good 
conditicn.—G. P. Bonny, 30, Wellington Road, Stoke New- 
ington, London, N. = 

WanTED, the loan of, or to purchase, vol. 5 ‘‘Cambridge 
Natural History. Offered, botanical and insect slides or 
cash.—Walter White, Litcham, Swaftham. 

Booxs.—Good modern books on science, natural history 
and travel; exchange orsell cheap, Lists sent—J. H. Noble, 
5, Bond Place, Leeds. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 319 


WBNS, “ALOME AME: “S\N VB CIOIN SI Dp 


By Frank C. DENNETT. 


Ps eclipse of August gth, 1896, had been 

looked forward to by British astronomers 
as visible nigh to hand, and therefore as one 
which gave a considerable amount of possibility 
for observation, seeing that the line of totality 
crossed over such a holiday-resort as the North of 
Norway. As a whole, the British party may be 


Hither also had gone another, a Russian, party, 
sent by the Imperial Academy of Sciences, com- 
posed of M. Nicolas O. A. Backlund (Director of 
the Observatory of Poulkova), accompanied by 
MM. S. Kostinsky and A. Hansky, also Prince 
Galitzine, and, as zoologist, M. Jacobson. Most 
interesting reports of this expedition, together 


Fig. 1.—D1AGRAM OF ToTaAL EcLIpse oF SuN, AUGUST 9TH, 1896. 


said to have taken up their quarters at Vadsé, on 
the banks of the Varanger Fiord, and the story of 
their disappointment is well known. There was a 
little more success at Bodé, but the only real good 
work by our countrymen was that by Messrs. E. 
J. Stone (of the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford) 
and Shackleton (Assistant to Professor Norman 
Lockyer), who had been taken by Sir G. Baden- 
Powell in his yacht, the Otaria, to the desolate 
shores of Nova Zembla. 


May, 1897.—No. 36, Vol. III. 


with photographs and a resultant drawing, are 
given in the ‘Bulletin de l’Académie Imperiale 
des Sciences de St. Petersbourg,”’ for January, and 
from which the substance of this paper has been 
drawn, as also the accompanying plates. 

The expedition embarked from Archangel on 
July 22nd, on board the marine transport Samoéde, 
and, thanks to its captain, M. Lilié, and his officers, 
had a most enjoyable voyage to Nova Zembla, 
arriving on July 25th. Malya Karmakouly was the 


320 


station chosen, as it seemed to offer some advan- 
tages, and their treatment by their hosts was 
worthy of great eulogy. 

The expedition had its drawbacks however. The 
first was shortness of funds. The time for prepara- 
tion was also somewhat limited. On arriving at 
Malya Karmakouly, poor meteorological conditions 
made it very difficult to get the true position of the 
place or to adjust the instruments, besides proving 
a discouraging factor to the observers themselves. 

On the day of the eclipse itself, at two o’clock the 
sky was quite cloudy, but towards four the clouds 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


for observing contacts with. 
Prince Galitzine, 
observatory. 

The equatorial, not having been constructed for 
so high a latitude, had to be fitted up in an abnormal 
position, the consequence being that the clock did 
not work regularly, which becomes painfully appa- 
rent in some of the plates. 

The programme arranged was to observe the first 
and fourth contacts with four telescopes and the 
second and third with two. During the time of 
totality M. Kostinsky was to take five photographs 


M. Hansky, with 


arranged the meteorological 


Fig. 2.—TotTaL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN, AUGUST 9TH, 1856. 


began to disperse. During the eclipse the sky was 
tolerably serene, though at first light cirrus clouds 


were over the sun. and make their presence manifest - 


in some of the photographs. 

It was resolved that, whether the eclipse was 
successfully observed or not, the expedition should 
not be fruitless. Amongst the instruments taken 
were an equatorial with a 4-in. objective corrected 
for photography, a photographic camera with a 
24-in. objective attached to the tube of the equato- 
rial, an ordinary photographic camera, a reflecting 
circle, two box chronometers, and four telescopes 


with the refractor, and M. Hansky three with the 
camera fitted on to the tube. M. Hansky also pro- 
posed to draw the corona during totality. Prince 
Galitzine proposed to photograph the corona with 
the ordinary camera, as also the spectrum with the 
spectrograph. M. Backlund was to take observa- 
tions around the sun and to give signals, whilst M. 
Jacobson had to beat the seconds. The party had 
frequent rehearsals of the plan beforehand, so that 
when the critical time arrived all might be well 
prepared to make the best use of the’106 seconds at 
their disposal. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


When the eclipse came, however, unforeseen 
disturbances arose, so that M. Kostinsky only 
managed to obtain four photographs. Prince 
Galitzine obtained four with his camera, but failed 
with the spectrum, one reason for the failure being 
that his instrument had too great a dispersive 
power. 

There was a strong wind until after the time of 
the first contact, but after the second there was 
almost a calm. 

The totality caused such a profound impression 
that it was difficult for them to recall themselves 
to the work. The floating cirrus clouds and 
the shortness of the time prevented the proposed 
observations around the sun. But Mercury, 
Venus, Jupiter and Regulus were seen—as also 
was the case at Bodé. According to M. Backlund, 
it was so dark that one could hardly see to write 
n the journal—darker than in full moonlight. In 


321 


especially when sketching the corona. It was as 
dark as at two hours after sunset at Odessa.”’ 

M. Kostinsky writes that ‘‘It was as light as full 
moon, but the tint was peculiar—orange; the 
colour of the neighbouring clouds was of the same 
tint. I only looked at the corona for a few 
seconds.” 

Owing to the shortness of the time M. Hansky’s 
drawing was not a success. By the end of the 
eclipse clouds again covered the sky. But, this 
notwithstanding, several other photographs of the 
sun were made during the day. The diagram 
accompanying this paper (fig. 1) is a resultant one, 
drawn after the return to Poulkova, and bringing 
in all the details visible on each of the photographs 
and calling attention to several minute details 
which might easily be overlooked if the photographs 
were alone consulted. 

The first photograph taken with the equatorial 


Fig. 3—TotTaLt ECLIPSE OF THE SUN, AUGUST 9TH, 1896. 


the east the atmosphere appeared bluish, and in 
the south of an orange tint. Seven seconds before 
the commencement of totality the red light of the 
chromosphere (1) was very intense. The corona, 
which presented a considerable expanse, was of an 
orange colour. 

M. Hansky says, ‘‘The colour of the corona 
seemed to me bluish. I did not see the 
prominences. The rays were very intense on the 
left with the naked eye. Little detail with the 
telescope; more with the unaided eye. The ray 
turned towards the zenith stretched for at least one 
or one and a-half diameters of the sun. The others 
were not longer than a-half the diameter, or even 
less. A lantern had to be used during totality, 


(1) The chromosphere is the gaseous envelope which 
surrounds the sun completely to a depth varying from 2,000 
to 6,000 miles. This gives bright lines inits spectrum, where 
dark lines are seen in the spectrum of the sun itself, 


N 


on a plate by Thomas, had three seconds exposure, 
and the development was carried on until there 
were certainly no more minute to be brought out, 
a method adopted with each plate. It showed 
very much detail; but the best photograph was 
that taken next. ‘‘No.2. Exposure=ten seconds. 
Schleussner plate. The reproduction (fig. 2) is a 
little fogged. The corona is of very considerable 
extent, the principal ray reaching to the edge of 
the field, and even probably extends beyond it. 
The details of the corona in its outer portions 
are very well shown. One can also see all the 
prominences, but somewhat distorted on account 
of the slight movement of the image in the direction 
of the parallel’’—in other words from east to 
west. ‘It was evident that the clockwork move- 
ment was not entirely uniform.’’ These two plates 
were the most interesting and important taken, 
from the amount of detail shown. 


2 


322 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


The third plate exposed for twenty seconds was 
altogether the worst taken, from the failure of the 
clockwork, yet it is most important from the 
number of the prominences shown. The fourth, a 
French plate, is interesting from its showing the 
remarkable phenomenon known as Baily’s beads. 
M. Hansky’s plate, No. 1, taken with the camera, 
had an exposure of ‘‘six seconds. The image ofthe 
corona is intense and very well brought out. One 
can follow the whole length of the ray from the 
sun's limb for 70’. Of all the neighbouring stars, 
Jupiter alone was obtained. There are no stars, 
evidently betause of the clouds which one can see 
on the negative. The clearer prominences arealso 
shown.” The plate is reproduced (fig. 3) as our 
third illustration. 

The other plates were less interesting from the 
slight displacement of the image and the clouds. 

Prince Galitzine was unfortunate with his first 
two plates, which were from some specially pre- 
pared for the eclipse, by Strezniewsky, and named 
‘*Corona”’ plates, which, although they gave an 


image of the corona tolerably full of detail, and 
intense, were yet fogged and spotted. His third 
plate—a French one—proved more successful. But 
the fourth, whilst very intense, suffered slightly 
from fog as well as displacement. 

The work of the expedition being done, the exact 
time determined, the instruments were dismounted. 
The party afterwards joined Sir George Baden 
Powell’s, and, accepting his invitation, returned in 
the Otavia, making a most pleasurable ending to the 
expedition. The enjoyment was enhanced when at 
Hammerfest they fell in with Nansen just returning 
from his great polar expedition. 

Perhaps it should be added that the exact position 
of the station, to the east of St. Nicolas Church, at 
Malya Karmakouly, was E. longitude 3h. 30m. 
50s., N. latitude 72° 22'°5. 

In closing, the writer has to express his acknow- 
ledgment of assistance kindly rendered by Mr. 
Harold S. Geikie in the important matter of 
translation. 

60, Lenthall Road, Dalston, N.E. 


MANGANESE DEPOSITS -IN GEAGCIAE DRiIEG 
IBvedbaE ILONES, IMisAL eles): 


ie the gravel and sands which immediately 

overlie the chalk in some parts of Hertfordshire 
are black and reddish-black manganiferous beds 
of an exceptional character. These beds, which 
may be seen in some of the gravel-pits near 
St. Albans, Aldenham and Watford, present a 
marked contrast to, and may be easily dis- 
tinguished from, the reddish-brown and yellow 
beds amongst which they lie. As a rule the 
manganiferous beds do not pass into but are 
sharply separated from the underlying and over- 
lying beds; they are markedly lenticular, and 
are rarely more than nine inches thick. The 
manganese is present as black oxide in very fine 
granules, forming a soot-like powder, part of 
which encrusts the remaining constituents of the 
manganiferous beds. These constituents comprise 
angular and sub-angular flints, grains and pebbles 
of flint, quartz, chalcedony and limonite. Some 
of the limonite occurs as a pseudomorph after 
flint, jasper and quartz. The proportions in 
which the above-named constituents occur in the 
manganiferous beds vary between wide limits, 
whilst the proportion of oxide of manganese varies 
from a small percentage up to about fifteen per 
cent., by weight, in the richest samples taken from 
the beds. By carefully washing a sample of the 
deposits, the whole of the oxide of manganese, 
mixed with flint, limonite, quartz, and other grains 
of small size, can be separated from the rest 
of the sample as a very fine, jet-black and plastic 


mass. A thoroughly dried sample of a rich mud 
of this kind yielded, very nearly, on analysis: 
Fe,O3, 17° per cent.; MnOs,, 33:2 per cent.; 
silica as quartz, flint, etc., 50°7 per cent.=100'0. 

In all the Hertfordshire gravel-pits, the richest 
and most persistent deposits of oxide of manganese 
occur in the lower parts of the gravel and sand. 
In one of the pits near Watford an unusually thick 
manganiferous bed occurs, but the percentage of 
manganese is small. The beds are, in all cases, 
horizontal or only slightly inclined. Collectively, 
the beds appear to cover a large area; the largest 
bed at present exposed does not, however, appear 
to extend over more than a few hundred square 
yards. It is almost unnecessary to state, after the 
above description, that the manganiferous beds are 
too thin to allow of their being worked for the 
oxide of manganese they contain. 

Judging from their general appearance and the 
occurrence therein of numerous pebbles and 
rounded quartz-grains, the manganiferous beds 
would seem to have been deposited by the waters 
ofariver. All the pits in which the manganiferous 
beds have been seen by me are not far from the 
River Colne, and are within its valley. An 
interesting question in connection with these 
manganiferous beds is that relating to the determina- 
tion of the origin of the oxide of manganese. It 
is generally admitted that the pebbles of quartzite, 
lydian-stone, and some other associated rocks found 
in the drift, were transported by the action of ice 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


from the Triassic beds of the Midland counties. 
The evidence obtained from an examination of the 
manganiferous beds would seem to show that the 
oxide of manganese was transported in a similar 
way. Amongst some of the beds in one of the 
eravel-pits near Watford I found a block of 
quartzite which enclosed between the walls of 
a very narrow fissure a quantity of manganiferous 
powder ; this powder was black, and resembled that 
foundin the beds. In the ‘‘ Geology of the Warwick- 
shire Coal-field,”’ one of the memoirs of the Geological 
Survey, it is stated that at Tuttle Hill, near 
Nuneaton, the quartzite contains oxide of man- 
ganese in joints and fissures of the rock, and that 
at one time the quartzite was worked for the 
oxide of manganese which it contained. The 


323 


quartzite in which the manganese occurred in the 
Watford gravel-pit was similar to the quartzite 
found near Nuneaton. Lumps of oxide of 
manganese, weighing from one to sixty pounds 
each, are found in the New Red Marl near 
Nuneaton, and have been profitably worked. 
Such lumps may have been the source of some 
portions of the manganiferous beds of Hertfordshire. 

From the above facts, it may be reasonably 
inferred that some of the quartzite and other 
blocks found in the glacial drift of some parts of 
Hertfordshire were transported, together with 
oxide of manganese, from the Nuneaton district, 
and were afterwards re-arranged and re-deposited 
by the action of water in motion. 

Rokeby Lodge, St. Alban’s Road, Watford, Herts. 


COLLECLING SDESMLDS: 


By R. WILLIAMSON. 


AE following hints result from the experience 

of several years’ practice in gathering 
desmids. It is astonishing what a large number 
of forms will often be found in places which may 
have been passed many times without detecting 
them. The best places to procure desmids are 
small pools on open moors, on peaty ground ; 
pools which are exposed to sun and rain. Next, 
are freshwater lochs, lakes, ponds and ditches ; in 
fact, they may be found almost anywhere where 
water collects without becom- 
ing stagnant. 

In many cases desmids may 
be seen with the unaided eye 
as minute green specks in the 
water, but in the majority they 
will have to be looked for 
with a pocket-lens, and later 
under the microscope at home. 

Having indicated where to 
find the desmids, I will now 
proceed to point out the best 
way of collecting them. First 
provide yourself with a number 
of test-tube bottles having flat 
bottoms, and fitted with corks. 
In size, three-quarters of 
an inch by three inches long is very suitable. 
The most convenient way to carry the specimens 
is to get an ordinary elastic cricket-belt and 
fasten on toit a piece of cloth, linen or canvas, 
which has been folded and stitched up in sucha 
way as to leave pockets the correct size for the 
tubes to slip into tightly. In fact the whole arrange- 
ment, when finished, bears a strong resemblance 
to an ordinary cartridge-belt. In this way twenty 
or more tubes may be carried clasped round the 


Fig. 1.—STRAINING-NET FOR DESMIDS, 


waist and under the coat away from observation. 
It is a system also convenient for taking out a 
tube with wet fingers and replacing when filled. 

In order that one may with some reasonable 
certainty expect to find such small objects in such 
a quantity of water recourse must be had to 
straining the water on the spot. This is easily 
done by means of a muslin conical funnel with a 
bottle attached to a wire ring fixed to the end of 
a walking-stick. (See fig. 1.) 

; A suitable size is one having 
a ring six inches in diameter, 
made of quarter-inch round 
wire. The muslin cone is 
stitched to the ring. The 
small end of the cone is left 
open about two inches in 
diameter, and tied with string 
to a two-ounce wide-mouthed 
bottle. The depth of cone 
should be about six inches. 

With this instrument the 
water may be searched by 
hand, or in the case of small 
pools it may be filled by 
means of a small bottle used 
as a ladle to lift water into 
the funnel. Of course, the water passes through 
the muslin funnel, leaving the desmids on the 
inside. These gradually gravitate into the bottle. 
When a sufficient quantity has been thus filtered, 
empty the contents into one of the test tubes. 
In this way a very rich harvest may be carried 
home in very small bulk. It is advisable to 
take samples from pools which may only be 
separated by a few yards distance, because 
different types may often thus be found quite close 


N 3 


324 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


to each other. Before leaving the pool it is 
important to take a small quantity of the mud 
from the bottom and put it into the test-tube with 
the desmids. About as much as will cover the 
bottom of tube by three-quarters of an inch will be 
sufficient. Always choose a sunny day by preference 
for collecting, for it is then the largest quantities of 
desmids come to the surface, and may often be 
seen as a green scum on the top of the mud. If 
the day be dull and you take a small quantity of 
the mud, the desmids 
are sure to be found, 
as will be later 
described. 

The most con- 
venient method of 
collecting the des- 
mids from the sur- 
face of the mud at 
the bottom of the pools is by means of a large 
pipette (see fig. 2). This is made with a piece of 
quarter-inch or five-sixteenth-inch glass tubing 
about seven inches long, and having fixed to the 
top an india-rubber air-ball about one and a-half 
inches in diameter. Such balls can be obtained from 
dealers in photographic apparatus, as they are 
largely used for pneumatic releases in connection 
with instantaneous shutters of cameras. To use 


Fiz. 3—TrEst-TuBE STAND FOR DESMIDS. 


the pipette, press the ball to expel the air before 
entering the water, and until the point of the tube 
almost touches the surface of the mud. Then, on 
releasing the pressure on the ball, as much water as 
you desire will be sucked into the pipette and thence 
conveyed into a test-tube. This pipette will be 
found invaluable after some practice, as by means 
of it clusters of desmids which can be seen growing 
up from the mud in a thin filament can be sucked 
up quite clean and without any adhering mud. It 
is also a most useful tool to use at home in 
changing desmids from one tube to another when 
required. 

On reaching home, remove the corks from tubes, 
and place them into a stand such as shown in 
fig. 3. This is constructed with a block of wood 
having holes drilled in it. The stand must be 
of a suitable size to hold six tubes nine and 
a-half inches long by two inches wide and one 
and a-half inches deep, the holes being bored 


Fig. 2.—PIPETTE. 


three-quarters of an inch deep and of a size to 
ensure that the tubes will drop in freely. As 
many stands may be made as desired. The size 
given takes up little space, and will rest on a 
window-frame or sill. 
Place the stand of tubes near a window; if 
facing the south cover the tubes with a piece of 
gauze or muslin to prevent the growth of confervze 
and keep the dust out of the tubes. Ina day or 
two the desmids will be seen growing in large 
clusters up the tubes, 
when they may be 
taken out perfectly 
clean with a small 
pipette for observa- 
tion, or transferred 
to a tube of clean 
rain-water for a few 
days. In this way 
large quantities of perfectly pure gatherings may 
be obtained. The desmids can often be observed 
under the microscope, in situ, in the tubes, and 
much valuable information obtained regarding 
their growth. Use a low-power object-glass, not 


_less than one-inch. The convexity of the tubes 


does affect the image, but on the line along the 
centre of the tube sufficient view will often be 
obtained, and the tube can be turned all round 
for examination. Before putting a tube under 
the microscope fill up with water and insert the 
cork until the surplus water overflows. The 
contents of the tube may then be examined 
without disturbing the position of the desmids 
growing inside. To facilitate the examination 
of the tubes under the microscope, make a 
small table (to rest on stage of microscope) out of 
a piece of cigar-box wood, about four inches long 
by two and a-half inches wide, with a narrow 
piece half an inch wide, glued at right angles. 
Against it the tube rests when the microscope is 
inclined. Cut a round hole one inch in diameter 
in centre to allow light from mirror to pass 
through. (See fig. 4.) 

To transfer small quantities of desmids from 


tubes to slides a small pipette made with a child’s 
feeding-bottle rubber teat on end will be found 
very handy. These small pipettes can be obtained 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


from chemists ready-made and are known as 
medicine droppers. 

It will be found by spending a few hours collecting 
as above described that sufficient material has been 
obtained to keep anyone well employed for months 
in examining the desmids. It has been a matter of 
great astonishment to find what a large number of 
different species may be obtained from a neigh- 
bourhood usually undreamt of as being so prolific. 
Many of the types are very beautiful and can only be 
seen with quarter-inch or one-sixth-inch objectives. 


TIDE-WAIFS ON 


325 


If after some time any of the tubes show signs of 
becoming stagnant, all that is usually necessary is 
to aerate them by means of the pipette. Put the 
instrument down to the bottom of tube and 
compress the ball several times, being careful not 
to use too much force or you may discharge 
the contents into your face. This, of course, 
disturbs the desmids that may have been grow- 
ing, but that does not matter, as when all becomes. 
settled again the desmids will soon come to the top 

3, Keir Street, Pollokshtelds, Glasgow. 


TE, BORE SHORES, 


By RosBerT GODFREY. 


HE shore has ever been one of the chief 
hunting-grounds of the naturalist, and in 
spite of the care bestowed upon it by those in quest 
ofits spoils it has still new secrets to show them 
at subsequent visits. Though at all times attrac- 
tive the shore is especially interesting after a 
storm, as then it bears on its open face the relics 
of wind and tide, and affords us opportunities of 
examining at close quarters objects which during 
the calm are kept beyond our gaze. All classes of 
life suffer from a continuance of heavy storms, but 
the lower forms, as is to be expected, chiefly fall 
victims to the violence of the gale. Every gale 
carries destruction with it, and according to its 
intensity leaves more or less evident traces of its 
passing. Sometimes a storm will strew our fore- 
shore with a compact mass of medusz, forming a 
continuous line for a mile or more along high- 
water mark, or at other times a terrific gale will 
throw up superabundance of molluscs of many 
species, starfishes, and such like. The effects of 
storms on invertebrate life is immediate, so that the 
reason for the destruction is generally self-evident. 
Our object at present, however, is to consider 
some of the vertebrate forms of life found dead on 
the Forth shores after storms: At such timesa 
sure find, especially on the West Lothian fore- 
shore, is the angler-fish (Lophius), and very often 
this is the only vertebrate to be found as a waif 
immediately after a storm. Several of these un- 
wieldy-looking fish are often cast up at one time, 
and that they are the direct product of the storm is 
proved by their well-nurtured condition and by 
the presence of food in their stomachs. Lofhius 
varies in length from fifteen to forty-eight inches, 
the average size of those thrown up being three 
feet. It is a formidable-looking monster from its 
flattened shape and broad mouth, the lower jaw of 
which protrudes far in front of the upper—as 
also its projecting spikes and ridges above the 
skull. Its curious guise is enhanced by the tiny 
fin-ray-like appendages that spring from the dorsal 


line, and by the rows of papillz round the edge of 
the lower jaw and along its sides. These fin-ray- 
like appendages, or ‘‘fishing-rods,’’ are six in 
number, situated on the dorsal line between the 
upper jaw and the pectoral fins; two lie in front 
of the eye region, one behind it, and three between 
the pectorals; they are elongated and covered with 
skin, and flexible at their bases. The “ fishing- 
rods’’ are reputed to be employed by the angler-fish 
as he lies sluggishly on the sea-bottom in enticing 
smaller fish to approach, when they at once fall 
victims to hisenormous jaws. The papille referred 
to may help to hide the angler more completely by 
their resembling tiny fronds waving all round the 
edge of his lower jaw. But this question of wilful 
trapping on the angler’s part is a difficult one to 
handle, and may easily be stretched beyond the 
actual facts. 

Besides the angler, conger and saithe are occa- 
sionally thrown up; but no fish has suffered such 
destruction in our area as the saury-pike. This 
rare fish, when it does appear in the Forth, comes 
in enormous shoals, and has on at least two 
different occasions been destroyed in almost in- 
credible numbers. In November, 1768 (+), great 
numbers of saury-pike were thrown ashore on the 
sands at Leith, after a great storm from the east; 
and again, in 1855 (7), after an east or north-east 
wind, they swarmed in the Forth. Some idea of 
their numbers may be obtained from the following 
account given in the ‘‘ Alloa Advertiser’’ of the 
time: ‘‘ On the afternoon of Monday (29th 
October), but especially on Tuesday, and partially 
on Wednesday (31st), vast shoals of fish of the 
genus Scombresox, technically known by the name 
of saury-pike, ascended the river Forth, and were 
gladly welcomed by the citizens of Alloa, more 
especially by the humbler classes of the com- 
munity. The Forth, betwixt Kincardine and Alloa, 
during the days above-mentioned (particularly 


(2) Pennant. 
(2) Proc. Royal Phys. Soc,, Edin.i., p. 51. 


326 


Tuesday) was literally swarming with these fish, 
and millions of them have from first to last 
been captured. Hundreds of people lined both 
banks of the river on successive days, and came 
away with bags, baskets, and boxes laden with 
the herrings; hundreds of young people, while 
wading along the margin of the river, picked up 
armfuls of the fish; parties cruising about on the 
river gathered up the herrings as rapidly as they 
chose with their hands from the side of their 
small boats; parties in Alloa, Kincardine, Kennet, 
Alva, Tillicoultry and Stirling, obtained cart- 
loads of them, and sold them to ready purchasers; 
and numbers of the fish were destroyed by the 
paddles-of the Stirling steamers.” 

In considering the birds, we notice a great differ- 
ence in the way in which their death-rate is affected 
by storm. The destruction caused by the united 
efforts of wind and wave is, in the case of fishes 
and of invertebrates, direct ; whilst in birds, though 
oftentimes severe, it is indirect. Repeatedly I have 
traversed the shore in search of birds cast up as 
waifs after storms, and I have been quite surprised 
at the almost entire absence of such; but when I 
have returned by the same way two or three weeks 
after the storm, I have found birds in abundance 
along the tide-edge. Though the storm brings 
the birds nearer shore, it does not directly destroy 
them ; the birds struggle on sometimes for weeks 
against death, but often succumb finaliy through 
sheer exhaustion. In some way or other the 
storm affects their food-supply, and starvation 
seems in most cases to be the direct cause of 
death. Sometimes guillemots are met with lying 
on the sand or sitting upright beneath the sea- 
bank, and when touched they show fight bravely; 
but these birds are beyond hope, having been 
borne helplessly to land after resisting starvation 
as long as they could ; sometimes too the razorbills 
close inshore are seen to struggle violently in their 
efforts to dive, displaying their inability to perform 
their ordinary functions without the greatest 
labour. 

Though there are outstanding instances of great 
losses of bird-life, such as that which took place in 
the beginning of 1895, yet few seasons pass without 
minor wrecks of life taking place. In the majority 
of cases, the species that suffer most terribly belong 
to the family of the Alcidz, though sea-birds of 
other families are often met with in the hosts of 
storm-tossed waifs. During the present winter I 
have found, lying dead on the tide-line, nineteen 
species of birds in my occasional rambles along the 
Forth shores. As usual, guillemots and razorbills 
prevailed throughout thearea examined. These two 
species are sometimes destroyed in great numbers, 
succumbing to the after-effects of the storm. They 
contain nothing in their stomachs savea little black 
oily fluid, and have occasionally parasitic worms in 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


their gullets. Along with these species puffins are 
found on some parts of our coasts, but here the 
puffin is a rare waif; I noticed only one this season. 

A minor destruction of little auks—mainly notice- 
able during the first half of February—has again 
taken place along our east coast. One Edinburgh 
bird-stuffer received nineteen specimens, all of 
which, with one exception, were females. On 
February 4th I was out in search of this bird on 
the West Lothian foreshore, which proved a very 
productive area during the 1895 incursion, and I 
found three individuals all more or less mutilated 
by carrion feeders. On the following day I crossed 
to Fife on a like errand and picked up seven 
specimens. Not one of these latter had been 
touched by the carrion feeders, which was sufficient 
proof of their freshness. In two cases the birds 
seemed to have dropped just before I found them; 
they lay with their wings half-spread and their 
plumage unruffied, having unwillingly come to land 
after baffling with the storms of the North Sea, and 
settled in the most peaceful attitude possible, 
sinking through sheer exhaustion. 

The most important waif, to me, during the 
season has been the fulmar petrel, a specimen of 
which I picked up on the East Lothian foreshore 
on December 15th last. The bird had lain onlya 
few days, but had been so mutilated by the hooded 
crows as to be rendered useless for preservation; it 
provided me, however, with skull and breast-bone. 
This ocean bird of powerful flight is occasionally 
driven into the Forth, but this is the first occasion 
on which I have personally met with it here. 

In connection with some of these birds, little auk 
chiefly, the conclusion is impressed upon one that 
such individuals as happen to be driven from their 
normal ocean haunts to our shores in winter never 
again return, though they succeed in bafiling their 
fate foratime. Razorbills and guillemots, though 
not so strictly oceanic, may often be seen close to 
the shore in such attitudes as imply their impending 
doom, and individuals continue to die long after 
the first disturbing cause has passed off, whilst the 
extended time throughout which little auks during 
a severe wreck of life continue to be thrown up 


‘shows that a similar state of affairs prevails with 


respect to these birds. A friend in Shetland, 
writing in connection with this subject, says: ‘‘I 
remember having watched from day to day three 
ittle auks in a quiet bay near Lerwick, in 1860, and 
although they seemed to be very lively for about a 
week, they gradually became more feeble, and in 
the course of three weeks I found two of them lying 
dead upon the beach and the third in a dying 
condition close to the waiter’s edge.” This is 
typical of the fate of the majority, if not of the 
whole, of the little auks seen off-shore in winter. 
46, Cumberland Street, Edinburgh; 
April 37d, 1807. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


SCIENCE A MONOPOLY. 


els correspondent who in the January number 

of ScieNcE-GossIP (ante p. 213) had occasion 
to take exception to a paragraph in ‘ Natural 
Science’ which had for its inspiration the address 
of Dr. W. Trelease to the Botanical Society of 
America, again writes as follows: ‘‘ My criticisms 
were founded on the excerpts and comments given 
in that periodical; but since then, through the 
kindness of Dr. Trelease (not Professor, as he is 
called in ‘ Natural Science’) and the courtesy of 
the editor of ScliENCE-GossipP, I have been enabled 
to see the original address, and I would take this 
opportunity of thanking these gentlemen for their 
attention. On carefully perusing the original and 
then comparing it with the garbled account which 
elicited my criticisms, a great difference is to 
be noted, and an apology is certainly due from me 
to Dr. Trelease, which I readily tender; but I can 
plead extenuating circumstances. By itself the 
sentence to which objection was taken certainly 
does appear to be an attack on ‘amateurs,’ but 
when read with the context, and with other parts 
qualifying it, it certainly cannot bear the construc- 
tion which I put upon it. In fact, when we bear 
in mind the different social conditions which 
prevail on the other side of the Atlantic, there is 
nothing that any lover of science can take exception 
to in the whole of the address. Instead of 
attacking the ‘amateur,’ Dr. Trelease gives as an 
example of how scientific work should be done 
the methods adopted by Dr. Engelman, a busy 
physician who in his spare time did so much to 
advance our knowledge of the North American 
flora. Dr. Trelease’s estimate of amateur work 


is in accordance with that of Professor Huxley, 


as witness the concluding paragraph of his 
address above referred to. which I cannot refrain 
from quoting : ‘ Hence, though it is certain that the 
most voluminous and, perhaps, the most compre- 
hensive results, and those resulting from the per- 
formance of coherent experimentsextending through 
a long series of years, will come from the great 
centres of research, there is no reason why quali- 
tative results equal to the best may not continue to 
come, as they have in the past, from isolated 
workers, to the rounding out and completion of 
whose studies the facilities of the larger institutions 
will be more and more applicable as the problems 
of equipment are worked out.’ Had this sentence 
been quoted in ‘Natural Science,’ my first com- 
munication would never have been written, and I 
must again thank Dr. Trelease for pointing out that 
my criticisms of his views were founded on a mis- 
conception of them. 

“This courtesy from America stands in pleasant 
contrast to the conduct of a prominent science 
official in this country which recently came under 


327 


my notice. A natural history society, whose head- 
quarters are not a: hundred miles from Charing 
Cross, decided, in consequence of ‘ the spreading of 
the hideous town,’ to draw up lists of the local 
fauna and flora of the London district. The object 
was to preserve for future generations many facts 
in the local distribution of plants and animals before 
the neighbourhood is quite built over. In further- 
ance of this object letters were written to all 
naturalists living in the district, asking for 
assistance. Offers of help were at once given by, 
amongst others, Sir John Lubbock, Mr. H. E. 
Dresser, F.Z.S., and the late Mr. Jenner Weir. 
But there was one discordant note. This science 
official, holding a high position in one of the 
scientific institutions in this country, was written 
to, and his answer is now in my possession. 
He displayed his ignorance of local distribution 
by stating that the fauna and flora of that district 
would be the same as that of any other similar 
district, and concluded by expressing his opinion 
that ‘the members of the society would be 
much better occupied in counting the number 
of lamp-posts.’ 

‘‘These remarks speak for themselves; but the 
attempt to discourage a small, struggling society 
in a laudable effort to add to our knowledge was 
neither gentlemanly nor scientific. In spite of his 
letter, the society has already issued several lists, 
and has added to the county at least a dozen fresh 
records for plants. 

“Complaint is made again and again of the 
approaching extinction of the old-fashioned ‘ field 
naturalist, and if such conduct as I have just 
mentioned is becoming common among the would- 
be monopolisers of science, it is not to be wondered 
at. In conclusion, I would point out that the 
Editor of ‘Natural Science’ has disclaimed all 
intention of attacking amateur naturalists (vide 
‘Natural Science’ April, p. 286, line 20). I 
accept this personal explanation absolutely. What 
I said and still say is that his way of putting 
things did actually lead people to read into his 
remarks ideas which they regretted. I am glad, 
however, to find that it was his style and not 
his heart which was at fault.”’ 


Day-FLIGHT OF Bat.—On Sunday, April 4th, I 
saw a bat flying backwards and forwards over a 
space of about thirty yards. The hour was 2 p.m., 
and the weather bright. In two hours time I 
returned to the spot and found the bat still flying. 
The space covered lay between trees, but very 
rarely did the animal leave the road—if I may use 
the phrase. Once it swooped down to a lake of 
water which stands near the road and disturbed 
the surface. All the while it kept up a squeaking 
or whistling noise, but not very loud. I could see 
no insects overhead, but I have no doubt of 
their presence in the vicinity.—William Thompson, 
Stroud, Gloucester. 


328 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


GEOLOGICAL FIELD CLASS. 


Bate London Geological Field Class, which | 

was established in 1886 to impart practical 
knowledge of the Physical Geography and Geology 
of the London district, commences the summer 
course for 1897 on May ist. The teaching is 
given during excursions made on Saturday after- 
noons, between the beginning of May and the 
middle of July. It has been organized and carried 
on by Professor H. G. Seeley during the past 
eleven years, in the form of short lectures upon 
rock-structures and fossils seen in quarries, and 
explanations of the contours of the hills, valleys, 
and river channels which are examined. The 
excursions illustrate the principles of geology by 
means of facts which appeal to the eye in scenery 
which is easy of access. They are open to ladies 
and gentlemen. They are not designed exclusively 
for students preparing for examinations, but are 
intended for all who are interested in nature, and 
find pleasure in examining the form and structure 
of the country. 

Professor Seeley revises any notes of geographical 
or geological structures seen or drawn in the 
excursions which are sent to him by post, and 
generally assists the members of the class in their 
investigations. Reports written by members of the 
Field Class form the ‘‘ Handbook” of the London 
Geological Field Class, which is published by 
Mr. G. Philip, of London. The volume records 
some of the observations made during past years. 

This year a distinctive feature will be the 
examination in successive excursions of a line of 
country running north to south, so as to see the 
succession of the strata between Sheppey and 
Tunbridge Wells, to illustrate the physical 
geography and geology of hills, valleys and rivers 
in the basin of the Thames. 

The excursions will be personally conducted by 
Professor H. G. Seeley, F-R.S., and will be as 
follows: First Series, Hon. Class Secretary, 
Stephen Miall, B.Sc., LL.B., 4, Endsleigh Street, 
W.C. (x) May tst, Leith Hill (Lower Greensand) ; 
leave London Bridge 2, arrive Holmwood 3.17; 
leave Dorking 8.23, arrive London Bridge 9.40. 
(2) May 8th, Caterham to Redhill, via Godstone 
(Upper Greensand); leave Cannon Street 2.17, 
arrive Caterham 3.12; leave Redhill 8.50, arrive 
Cannon Street 9.37. (3) May 15th, Snodland to 
Aylesford (Gault) ; leave Cannon Street 2.37, arrive 
Snodland 4.5; leave Aylesford 8.54, arrive Cannon 
Street 10.17. (4) May 22nd, Tunbridge Wells 
(Wealden Beds) ; leave Cannon Street 2.23, arrive 
Tunbridge Wells 3.40; leave Tunbridge Wells 8.5, 
arrive Cannon Street 9.10. (5) May 29th, Sheer- 
ness, drive to East Church, Hensbrook (London 


Clay); leave Holborn Viaduct 1.25, arrive Queen- 
borough 3.25; leave Sheerness 8.5, arrive Holborn 
10.10. Second Series, Hon. Class Secretary, 
J. W. Jarvis, St. Mark’s College, Chelsea, S.W. 
(6) June 12th, Coulsdon to Merstham (Lower 
Chalk) ; leave Cannon Street 2.17, arrive Coulsdon 
2.59; leave Merstham 7.55, arrive Cannon Street 
8.37. There will be no excursion on Saturday, 
June roth. (7) June 26th, Aylesford to Maidstone 
(Lower Greensand); leave Cannon Street 2.37, 
arrive Aylesford 4.9; leave Maidstone, 8.45, arrive 
Cannon Street 10.17. (8) July 3rd, Halling to 
Rochester (Chalk) ; leave Cannon Street 2.42, arrive 
Halling 4.10; leave Rochester 8.58, arrive Cannon 
Street 9.55. (9) July 1oth, Hildenboro’ to Seven- 
oaks (Lower Greensand) ; leave Cannon Street 2.23, 
arrive Hildenboro’ 3.42; leave Sevenoaks 7.49, 
arrive Cannon Street 8.55. (10) July 17th, Upnor 
and Rochester (Thanet Sands and Woolwich and 
Reading Beds); leave Cannon Street 2.37, arrive 
Strood 3.51; leave Rochester 8.58, arrive Cannon 
Street 9.55. 

The walking distance is usually from three to 
five miles. Arrangements will be made so that tea 
may be taken, at a fixed price, at the place from 
which the return journey is made. The railway 
companies will issue tickets for the excursions to 
members at greatly reduced rates. Rain will not 
prevent the excursions. Attention is drawn to 
Sheet 12 of the Index Geological Map of England 
and Wales, which includes all the localities visited 
by the Field Class. The contoured maps of the new 
Ordnance Survey are useful. Mr. W. Whitaker’s 
** Geology of London,” vol. i., gives in detail the 
tertiary geology of this district. 

All travelling arrangements, and other details for 
the comfort of members, are made by the Committee 
and Honorary Secretaries of the Class. Members 
are also elected by the Committee, which consists 
of the following :—H. G. Seeley, Nicol Brown, 
R. H. Bentley, J. W. Jarvis, S. Miall, W. Creighton, 
H. G. Erith, J. B. George, J. Herbert Hodd, J- 
Kidd, A. L. Mann, W. W. R. May, J. E. Piper, 
G. Prosser, and M. ¥Y. Woolf. The number of 
members is necessarily limited. The fee for the 
season’s excursions is one guinea ; for the first four, 
or for the last four, it is half-a-guinea. Old 
members pay half-a-guinea for any four excursions, 
and three shillings for any single excursion. When 
circumstances permit, and adequate notice is given, 
members have the privilege of introducing a friend, 
on payment of three shillings for asingle excursion. 
Particulars of membership may be obtained from 
the Honorary General Secretary, R. Herbert 
Bentley, 43, Gloucester Road, South Hornsey, N. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


329 


THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 


(Continued from page 299.) 


SEASONAL. 


“ Autumn Emigvation.—It is somewhat difficult 
to determine what species among our British 
summer visitors are true emigrants during July. 
There is no doubt, however that the departure 
of adult cuckoos dates from the latter days of the 
month, when they not only appear on the coast- 
line but are occasionally killed against the lanterns 
of the light-stations. The swift is another species 
that appears with some frequency at the stations, 
which fact indicates that the ebb of its summer 
sojourn in Britain has begun. 


‘Another class of migratory birds, namely, 
certain plovers and sandpipers, which spend the 
summer inland and the autumn and winter on the 
shore, also appear on the coast in small numbers 
accompanied by their young. The young of 
several species of sea-fowl—razorbill, guillemot 
and puffin—are mentioned as leaving their rocky 
nurseries during the month. Lastly, it is certain 
that some of the movements recorded for this 
month are due to spells of ungenial weather. This 
aspect of July emigration, however, belongs to, 
and will be treated of under, the Meteorological 
section of this digest. During August much 
emigration among our summer visitors is witnessed, 
and thirty-three species are recorded as departing. 
Of the birds which are partially migratory, no fewer 
than thirty-four species are noticed as emigratory 
during August, though, perhaps, all are not 
necessarily passing beyond the British area. Both 
these groups of emigrants are, in all probability, 
swelled during this and other months by birds 
of the same species which pass the summer in 
countries north of the British Isles, and which, 
having reached our shores as immigrants, are also 
moving southwards along our coast-lines. Sep- 
tember witnesses the height and close of the 
emigration of the bulk of the smaller British 
summer visitors, most of which are absent from 
our chronicles for October. The movements of forty- 
two of these emigrants appear in the records for 
the month ; while those of the partial migrants are 
also considerable, over forty species being recorded. 
There are often during this month considerable 
emigratory ‘rushes’ on the part of both these groups 
of migratory birds, due to outbursts of ungenial 
weather in our islands. The October emigrants 
among the summer birds are not numerous, and 
consist of laggard representatives of their kinds. 
Only twenty-two species are recorded in the 
chronicles for the month, and some of these are 
only observed occasionally. The partial migrants, 
on the other hand, are much on the move, and are 
numerous both as regards individuals and species, 
their ranks no doubt being considerably recruited 
by numbers of the same species from the north, 
which sooner or later emigrate in their company. 
These movements are often pronounced, and 
‘rushes’ are recorded; but they cease by or during 
the first half of November. 

“Tt is during the great autumn emigrations that 
the birds are observed on all our shores simultaneously. 
Emigratory birds are observed passing southwards, 
and feeding as they go during the daytime; but 


their flight to lands beyond our shores is usually 
undertaken during the night-time. 


“* Winter Movements.—In November, and not later 
than the middle of the month, the ordinary 
autumnal southward movements on the part of 
birds of passage and of British emigrants cease. 
These normal seasonal movements are followed 
later in the month by emigratory movements of a 
very different nature, and entirely due to a decided 
fall in temperature, usually in the form of out- 
bursts of frost, and to snow. These conditions 
drive certain species specially affected either to 
warmer districts within the British area or to 
southern regions beyond our shores They 
are repeated during each cold spell in the months 
of December, January, February, and in some 
exceptional seasons as late as the third week of 
March. 


‘The appearance of these birds on the coast 
in the late autumn and winter has led them to be 
regarded as immigrants from abroad. But when 
the whole of the data relating to their distribution 
is examined, the true nature of these movements 
is no longer doubtful; and this is the case quite 
apart from the weather conditions, which, in all 
instances, also afford an unfailing clue to their 
true character. If the cold is very severe and 
prolonged, the isles off the south-west coast, such 
as Scilly and those off the west coast of Ireland, 
are sought, and many birds are observed at the 
southern stations to quit both Britain and Ireland. 

In the terrible December of 1882 even these 
usually safe western retreats failed the refugees, 
and many succumbed, the hardy snow bunting 
perishing along with the rest. The Januaries of 
1881, 1885 and 1887 were also very severe, and 
were months of great cold-weather movements. 
In 1881 many birds died of starvation at Valentia, 
then the least cold corner of the British area. 
During exceptionally severe winters there is a 
renewal of immigratory movements from the 
Continent by way of the east and west route across 
the southern portion of the North Sea. On 
arriving on our south-eastern shores the larks, 
starlings, thrushes and lapwings, which are the 
species recorded, move along the south coast of 
England, and probably seek the warmth of the 
south-west, the Scilly Isles and Ireland. The species 
which appear to be specially susceptible to cold, 
either constitutionally or through deprivation of 
food (most probably the latter), are the mistletoe 
thrush, song thrush, redwing, fieldfare, blackbird, 
greenfinch, linnet, starling, lark, water-rail, 
lapwing, curlew, snipe and woodcock. In mild 
winters the only movements recorded are a few 
local migrations, which strictly coincide with the 
occasional periods of cold from which hardly any 
season is entirely exempt. 

‘‘Cold-weather migration is performed during 
both the night- and day-time. If the flight is an 
extended one it is probably undertaken at night, 
for much emigration is observed at southern 
stations during the hours of darkness. 


N 4 


330 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


“« Spring Immigration—The first bird-harbingers 
of spring are recorded for February, when during 
genial periods such partial migrants within the 
British area as the pied wagtail and lapwing 
return to the Orkneys and other northern stations, 
where these species are summer birds. Certain 
rock-breeding sea-fowl are also noted as visitors 
to their nesting-haunts. There is, in addition, 
indication of a return movement during mild 
weather on the part of fieldiares, redwings, 
thrushes, blackbirds, etc., which had fied the 
country through the winter cold. During February 
certain summer visitors have occasionally put in 
a phenomenally early appearance. In 1885 and 
1887 the wheatear was seen; in 1837 a ring ousel 
was shot at one of the light-stations; and in 1886 
(on the 24th) a solitary swallow was observed at 
the Eddystone. During the genial periods usually 
experienced in the changeable month of March 
there is a considerable immigration or return of 
the birds which quitied our islands throngh the 
pressure of the severe weather conditions of 
winter, and also of some partial migranis, including 
many goldcrests and pied wagiails. In most 
years the advent of a few summer visitors is 
recorded. The ring ousel, wheatear, whinchai, 
willow wren, chifichafi, swallow, sand martin, 
cuckoo (), land rail, garganey, whimbrel and Sand- 
wich tern are recorded for the month, some of 
them once only, and others rarely. April is a 
month of pronounced immigration on the part of 
the summer visitors, for no less than thirty-seven 
species are recorded in the chronicles. It thus 
witnesses the arrival of certainly the majority 
of species among the spring migrants, though, 
perhaps, not of individuals. Se 

«Tn connection with the arrival of these earliest 
immigrants among our summer visitors during 
March or April, a remarkable and interesting fact 
remains to be mentioned, namely, that the great 
majority of these birds are recorded first for the 
south-western area of the British region—ihe 
south-west coast of England and Ireland. Thus, 
in March, out of ninety-four observations, seventy- 
one, or seventy-five per cent., were made in the 
south-west. In April, out of 157 first records of 
the arrivals of summer visitors, no less than 115, 
or nearly seventy-four per cent., are chronicled 
for the south-west coast and Ireland. These 
numbers and percentages, however, should be 
considerably higher and more remarkable, for it must 
be explained that during the years 1880 and 1881 
there were no spring data for Ireland, and in 1833 
there was no return made for the west coast of 
England, while the east coast has been credited, 
in the statistics quoted, with the observations 
made during all the years of the inquiry. It thus 
seems probable that the first arrival of the spring 
migrants not unnaturally occurs on those paris 
of our isles which are ithe warmest so early in the 
season. During May the immigration of summer 
birds still flows into our islands. Several species 
make their first appearance, and a number of 
others are more abundantly recorded than hitherto. 
There are also considerable arrivals of wheatears, 
warblers, swallows, and sandpipers and plovers of 
various species, on our southern coast quite down 
to the end of the month, some of their movemenis 
being very marked. These are undoubtedly birds 
of passage on their way to northern summer 
haunts beyond the limits of the British Isles, for 
our own birds of the same species are then busily 
engaged in incubation or tending their young. 

@) At Langness, Isle of Man, March 28th, 1887. 


During the first half of June several species whose 
breeding range extends to the Polar regions 
appear in considerable numbers on our shores on 
their way to the far north ; a few appear even still 
later. The chief among these late birds of passage 
are the grey plover and the knot, and less 
numerously or less frequently the snow-bunting, 
widgeon, barnacle goose, ‘grey geese,’ swans, the 
dotterel, turnstone, sanderling, ruff, bar-tailed 
godwit, whimbrel, and a few great northern 
divers. (7) 

«« In connection with the spring immigration it has 
to be remarked that the observations are all in 
favour of the theory that the earliest arrivals 
among ihe summer visitors te our islands are 
British-breeding birds. This is borne out by the 
fact, well-known to all field-naturalists, that our 
summer birds appear in their breeding haunts in our 
islands immediately after their first appearance on 
our coasts in the spring. Additional proof is 
furnished by the fact that summer birds arrive 
in Britain at earlier dates than in Heligoland, 
where nearly all the species observed are en route 
for more northern lands than ours. The further 
fact already mentioned, that down to the end of 
May, and in some instances the first half of June, 
large numbers of birds of species which are 
summer visitanis io Britain arrive on and pass 
along our coast as birds of passage, proves that 
the migrants bound for the north are the last of 
their kind to appear in the British area. 

““ Spring Emigration —The spring emigration from 
the British Isles to continental Europe sets in on 
the part of certain species early in the year, indeed 
before the winter emigratory movements have 
ceased to take place. Thus in February, in some 
seasons, ‘geese’ are recorded as moving northwards 
in considerable numbers. During March 
these south-easterly movements become more 
pronounced, and the emigrants include the hooded 
crow, rook and skylark. Emigration for the north 
also commences, and the following winter visitors 
are recorded as leaving our islands during the 
month: great grey shrike, shore lark, swans, ‘ wild 
geese,’ gadwall, scaup, golden-eye, long-tailed duck, 
red-throated diver, and probably many others. In 
March, too, certain species (greenfinch, chaffinch, 
twite) which regularly seek the islands off the 
west coast of Ireland as winter retreats are 
mentioned as taking their departure for the 
summer. The mild spells of April induce a 
considerable amount of emigration for their 
northern summer haunts on the part of no less 
than thirty-four species. . - - May isa month 
of much emigration on the part both of birds which 
have wintered in our islands, and of birds of 
passage (including many individuals of species 
which are summer ‘visitors to Britain). In all, 20 
less than fifty-three species of regular emigrants 
are recorded in the May returns. showing thai the 
movements to the northern breeding-grounds reach 
their maximum during this month, and often take 
the form of ‘rushes’ after the birds have been held 
back by spells of ungenial weather. The north- 
ward movements from our shores of a few species 
whose breeding range lies within the Polar regions 
are also observed down to the middle of June, or 
even beyond that date, and have already been 
noticed. The departure for their northern summer 


(@) The fact that these birds, or most of them, should arrive 
on our shores as birds of passage thus late in the migratory 
season lends some countenance to the theory that the birds 
of certain species going farthest north in summer go the 
farthest south for winter quarters. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


quarters of the spring birds of passage and of the 
winter visitors to Britain takes place from our 
eastern coasts and the northern isles; a few only 
of the species, such as the redwing, wheatear, 
white wagtail, barnacle goose, swans, whimbrel, 
etc., passing up our western coasts, possibly en route 
for Iceland. 
METEOROLOGICAL. 

“Special attention has been bestowed upon this 
section of the Digest, since the actual relationships 
between migrational and meteorological phenomena 
have not hitherto received the attention they 
deserve, no doubt because the necessary sets of 
data for a satisfactory investigation of the problem 
were not obtainable. The material collected by 
the Committee has proved in all respects most 
valuable for establishing a useful comparison 
between these two sets of phenomena, and for 
determining, to a certain extent, the precise 
influence exercised by the weather upon bird 
movements. The standard for the weather has 
been the ‘ Daily Weather Reports’ issued by the 
Meteorological Office. . It may be well to state 
that these ‘ Daily Reports’ are based upon obser- 
vations made at fifty-four stations, distributed over 
Western Europe between Haparanda and Bodo 
in the north, and Toulon, Biarritz and Corunna in 
the south; as well as all parts of Great Britain and 
Treland. 


‘‘The weather influences are of two kinds, as 
treated of separately below: 

‘T.—Ordinary Weather Influences.—It is found that 
both in the spring and autumn migratory periods 
there are spells of genial weather without marked 
features other than those favourable for migration. 
During these the movements of the various species 
are of an even-flowing and continuous nature. If 
the weather should prove slightly unsettled during 
such periods, it is a matter of indifference to the 
migrants; if more pronouncedly so, their move- 
ments are slightly quickened thereby. This may 
be termed normal migration under ordinary weather 
conditions. The duration of such favourable spells, 
however, is sooner or later broken by the advent 
of a cyclonic period of a more or less severe type. 
This interferes, to a greater or lesser degree, with 
the progress of the migratory movements. 

“TI.—Extraordinary Weather Influences.—These are 
exerted by the prevalence of particular weather 
conditions, which may act either (1) as barriers to 
the ordinary movements, or (2) in diametrically 
the opposite direction, as incentives to great move- 
ments or ‘rushes,’ as they have beentermed. . . . 
The weather incentives to migration are widely 
different in their nature, and may take several forms. 
First, there may be favourable weather periodsimme- 
diately following unfavourable periods. Secondly, 
they may be due to weather in certain respects 
unfavourable to the birds, such as a decided fall 
in temperature, which either compels the birds to 
move, or acts as a warning that the time has 
arrived for their departure southwards. Such cold 
spells are characteristic of anticyclonic periods, 
when the weather is calm and highly favourable 
for a prolonged flight. Thirdly, and on the other 
hand, the advent in spring of a genial spell, 
especially if accompanied by a rise of temperature, 
is an incentive to a move to the northward for the 
summer haunts. The weather influences thus 
vary considerably; but temperature plays the 
most important part in the various seasonal move- 
ments, and is the main controlling factor in all 
extraordinary movements, other meteorological 


331 


conditions being suitable. Each movement, how- 
ever, has its peculiarity, and the conditions 
controlling it are often due to meteorological 
phenomena of a more or less complex nature, 
most of which, perhaps, admit of explanation. 


‘‘ Winds.—The importance attached to winds in 
connection with bird-migration has hitherto been 
much over-estimated by popular writers, and their 
influence, such as it is, misunderstood. The 
conclusions to be drawn from a careful study of 
the subject are: (1) that the direction of the wind has 
no influence whatever as an incentive to migration ; 
but that (2) its force is certainly an important factor, 
inasmuch as it may make migration an impossibility, 
arrest to a greater or lesser degree its progress, or 
even blow birds out of their course. We have the 
clearest proof, indeed, that birds do not emigrate 
when the winds are exceptionally high, though they 
sometimes pass into high winds and gales when 
en voute, under the meteorological conditions which 
have already been described and explained. Ordi- 
nary winds—that is, winds not too strong—appear 
to be of small concern to the birds, for they are 
recorded as migrating with winds blowing from all 
quarters. It is, however, a fact that particular 
winds almost invariably prevail during the great 
autumnal movements, and these have hitherto 
been considered by some as the direct incentives 
to such migrations. Such is not the case, and it 
may be at once stated that these supposed favour- 
able breezes are simply another direct result of the 
pressure distribution favourable to the movements. 
This peculiar type of weather has already been 
fully described and its effects discussed ; the winds 
prevailing and dependent upon these barometric 
conditions are easterly, chiefly south-easterly, 
breezes.. There is really no reason why westerly 
(west, north-west, and south-west) winds, not too 
strong, of course, should not, other things being equal, 
be in every way as suitable for migratory move- 
ments as those varying between such divergent 
points as north-east to south. When, however, we 
come to inquire into the meteorological conditions 
producing these westerly winds, the reason for 
their unsuitability becomes at once apparent. 
These winds are the result of types of pressure- 
distribution which are fatal to migration between 
north-western Europe and Britain, namely, the 
presence of cyclonic areas to the north-east or east 
of the British Isles. This means that the area 
under disturbed conditions would be the very 
region from which we derive our autumn immi- 
grants and render emigration from such sources 
impossible. Such areas of disturbance, with their 
high westerly and north-westerly winds, indeed, 
often extend to and influence the weather in our 
islands, and interfere with the British emigratory 
movements in both autumn and spring. Strong 
winds have a curious effect on the flight of gulls, 
compelling them to move in a direction more or 
less directly heading the wind. Thus a strong 
westerly wind causes great numbers of gulls to 
seek the estuaries and bays of our east coast. On 
the other hand, strong easterly winds will fill the 
estuaries and sea-lochs of the west coast with these 
birds. The lee side of islands is also sought under 
similar conditions of the wind. A south-easterly 
wind, for the same reason, causes considerable 
numbers of gulls of various species to pass 
southward along the eastern coast of Britain. 
Large parties of gulls are also recorded as passing 
north —sometimes for a whole day—with a 
north-north-west wind. These movements are 


Nov 


332 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


more or less local, and the birds return, no 
doubt, to their regular haunts in a few hours’ 
time. They are, moreover, chiefly observed in 
the autumn. 

* Gales —One effect of gales has already been 
alluded to, namely, that they arrest or make 
impossible the migratory movements. At sea, 
however, they have a direct influence on the 
migrations of certain marine species, such as skuas, 
phalaropes, petrels, etc. These birds in the 
autumn are occasionally driven out of their course 
by severe gales, and appear on our coasts in 
exceptional numbers. 

« Fog —It often happens that during an important 
migratory movement in the autumn or winter, fog 
prevails. On such occasions more birds than usual 
approach the lanterns of the light-stations and are 
killed, sometimes in considerable numbers, by 
striking against the glass. This phenomenon is 
another effect of those anticyclonic spells which 
have been mentioned as favourable to and causing 


emigration, and it is thus not surprising that the 
birds should encounter foggy weather during their 
movements. Such atmospheric conditions are well- 
known to meteorologists to be characteristic of 
these high-pressure systems, and of their frosty 
periods, which latter are also the chief cause of the 
winter movements. There is also some direct 
evidence that birds lose themselves in foggy weather, 
since practically non-migratory species, such as 
sparrows, appear during its prevalence at unusual 
seasons at stations just off the coast.” 


Although it has been necessary to quote largely 
from the foregoing report, still the fringe, as it 
were, of the subject only has been reached. So 
much more valuable information will be found 
there that no person interested in bird migration 
should fail to read the whole, and attentively study 
the conclusions arrived at by the committee. 


ARMATURE OF HELICGOID LANDSEELLS: 
With A New Species or PLectopPy_is. 
By G, & Gupe, 8.2.8: 


(Continued from page 303.) 


LECTOPYLIS claihratuloides () (fig. 44a-d). 
Colonel Beddome has kindly lent me for 
examination a number of shells of Pleciopylis, from 
the Anamullay Hills, which appear to be unde- 


Pig. 44.—Pleciopylis clathvatulotdes. 


scribed, and for which I adopt the name of Plectopylis 
clathrazuloidzs, saggested by Colonel Beddome. It is 
possible, however, that this form already exists in 
some collections under the name of P. clathratula; 
for, as already mentioned in discussing that species, 
I believe the specimens referred to under that name 


(@) Plectopylis clathraiulotdes, n.sp—Shell depressed coni- 
cal, moderately umbilicated, pale corneous, translucent, finely 
and regularly plicated by raised ribs above, finely and 
closely ribbed and a little shining below; whoris 53, slowly 
increasing, slightly convex, suture impressed. Periphery 
with an acute compressed keel, above which revolve 2 
Zaised spiral ridges, the lower provided with a fringe of 
coarse hairs. Aperture subquadrate; peristome simple, a 
little thickened. Umbilicus deep and moderately wide. 
Parietal armature, one Strong, vertical, simple plate. Palatal 
armature im two Series; upper series with one posterior, 
vertical, conical tooth and one minute anterior denticle: 
lower series, with one posierior, vertical tooth and a small 
anterior denticle; in addition, one elongated horizontal fold 
below the umbilical angulation and a small fold above the 
peripherial angulation. Major diameter, 6 millimetres: minor 
diameter, 5°5 millimetres ; axis, 3-5 millimetres. Habitat.Ana- 
mullay Hills, India— Type in Colonel Beddome’s collection. 


in Mr. Nevill’s Hand Lisi as from Sikkim belong io 
this new form. Pleciopylis clathraiuloides ditiers irom 
P. daihvatula in being more elevated, in having a 
narrower umbilicus, and in being less shining and 
more tumid below, while it differs from P. retifera 
in being less elevated and in having a wider 
umbilicus; itis, in fact, intermediate between those 
two species. The parietal armature consists of a 
simple, strong, vertical plate, which is not notched, 
and is without supporis (see fig. 44d). The palatal 
armature is in two series, the first (upper) series 
consisting of a posterior vertical tooth and a 
minute anterior denticle; the second (lower) series 
being composed of a posterior vertical tooth and a 
small anterior denticle ; below the umbilical angula- 
tion there is, besides, an elongated horizonial fold, 
and above the peripherial angulation a small fold(see 
fig. 445, which shows the base of the shell with the 
palatal armature visible through the shell-wall). 
The specimen figured is one of the Anamullay 
Hills specimens belonging to Colonel Beddome’s 
collection. Six specimens from Madura, India, 
also in Colonel Beddome’s collection, I refer to 
this new form; four of these are immature and 
exhibit two sets of armatures, as is the case in 
immaiure specimens of P. vetifera. 

Mr. E. R. Sykes and others have drawn my 
attention io the fact that the name Austenia, pro- 
posed by me for a section of Plectopylis (ante p. 300) 
is preoccupied. Under these circumstances it is 
necessary to re-name the section, and I therefore 
propose the name Sykesia, in honour of Mr. Sykes, 
who was the first to point out this fact. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


333 


ACK TekSilvA Ni) WBE S-; 
By W. V. Batt, B.A., F.G.S. 


\ViV eae passing through Trafalgar Square one is 
often astonished at the immense quantity of 
water which must daily run to waste from the two 
beautiful fountains which are constantly playing, 
and one sometimes comments on the apparently 
reckless extravagance of the municipal authorities 
in permitting such waste. The beauty of these 
two fountains is greatly enhanced by the fact that 
they are entirely independent of any grimy 
pumping-engine for that which gives them life. 
The water, which comes from a depth of 400 
feet below Charing Cross, is brought to the 
surface, at considerable pressure, from an Artesian 
well, and, as will be shortly explained, we have 
to thank nature alone for the supply to these 
ornaments to our great city. 

The name ‘‘ Artesian,” as applied to wells, is 
derived from Artois, one of the French provinces 
where they exist and are made use of in large 
numbers. They have been known for a very long 
time, having been found in China and in the 
Libyan Desert in the twelfth century. The 
distinction between an ordinary well and an 
Artesian well is that whereas the former only 
brings water to the surface of the ground, and in 
some cases is only able to bring it to a point some 
distance below the surface, from which it has to 
be pumped, the water is brought up by an 
Artesian well at appreciable pressure, so that it 
can be conducted in pipes to a considerable height, 
and be used for supplying fountains, or for ordinary 
domestic purposes. It is, therefore, obvious that 
the existence of an Artesian well is due to some 
very special arrangement of the underlying rocks, 
and it is only a study of the geological structure 
of a district that will serve to explain their origin. 

It is well known that different ‘‘ rocks,’’ in the 
geological sense, are permeable to water in various 
degrees. Thus, chalk is not only permeable, but is 
capable of soaking up large quantities of water like 
a sponge, while a stiff clay entirely prevents the 
passage of water through the strata. Consider for 
a moment a district in which the rocks consist of 
a basin-shaped series of strata, sloping towards a 
central point or line. Then, as shown in the 
accompanying diagram, the newest rocks will be 
in the centre, and towards the outside the older 
rocks will come in succession. Suppose that a 
permeable stratum (c) on the outside of this basin 
underlies an impermeable stratum (d) and overlies 
another impermeable stratum. Where the per- 
meable stratum comes to the surface, it absorbs 
the rain-water, which, on penetrating through to 
the impervious rock underneath, follows the 


general inclination of the basin and runs towards 
the central point, where it gradually collects. 
After it has accumulated so as to fill the chalk or 
other pervious rock to saturation, it is prevented 
from rising any higher at the central point by the 
overlying impervious rock (d). In consequence of 
this the level of the water rises in the pervious rock 
which forms the sides of the basin, and ultimately 
rises higher than the level of the bottom of the 
basin at the surface. Then, as soon as a hole is 
bored through the bed (d) to the pervious and 
saturated chalk, the water will rise not only to the 
surface, but far above it, if pipes are laid to conduct 
it. The height to which the water will rise is of 
course regulated by the rainfall, not of the place in 
which the Artesian well is sunk, but of the districts 
where the permeable strata crop out at the surface. 

The theoretical conditions which have just been 
explained are closely analogous to those which 
account for the Artesian wells in the London basin, 
of which Trafalgar Square, roughly speaking, 


GEOLOGICAL FORMATION FOR ARTESIAN WELL. 


forms the central point. The London clay 
represents the overlying impervious stratum, and 
it is through this that the well is bored to a 
depth of 400 feet. The chalk, which is porous and 
acts as a sponge, underlies the London clay, and 
crops out in Hertfordshire to the north and in 
Surrey to the south of London, while the stiff blue 
clay known as the gault forms the lowest layer of 
the basin, and prevents the water from penetrating 
further into the earth. The pressure of the water 
in Trafalgar Square therefore varies according as 
the season is dry or wet in Hertfordshire and Surrey. 
Thus these fountains, and, indeed, many of the 
Government buildings at Westminster, are supplied 
with water, not from any artificial reservoir, but 
from one which has been constructed, and is 
constantly replenished, by nature herself. 

Artesian wells are quite common in France, as 
indeed they always are wherever the geological 
conditions are favourable. Paris at the present 
day is to a large extent supplied by them, and the 
water comes in some cases from so great a depth 
that it is quite warm when it reaches the surface. 
This is of interest to geologists, as showing that the 
temperature of the earth increases with the depth. 

Cambridge; April, 1897. 


334 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Se 


NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 


Natural History of the Marketable Marine Fishes of 
the British Islands. By J. T. CunnincuHam, M.A., 
with a Preface by Professor E. Ray LANKESTER, 
M.A., LL.D., F.R.S. 375 pp. royal 8vo, illustrated 
by 159 figures and 2 coloured maps. (London and 


hat at ob 


Fig. 60. 


SSS 
EA LAK 
LEE 


Fig. 61. 


SS 


Yy 


NG 


TP Hot I coed tt TTF FY, 

THA ee = 
BH AATS 310-8:2— Sl A A 
Resiastelaeaeoaaaals ae : 


2H mo rf a 


New York: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1896.) 
Price 7s. 6d. 

Although there are numerous ‘‘ natural histories” 
of British fishes, not one is quite like this most 
useful work on our marine food fishes. It was 
issued under the auspices of the Marine Biological 
Association, as explained in the Preface by the 
President of the Association, Professor Lankester, 
the author being one of the scientific staff of the 
institution. He has devoted much attention to the 
life-histories of marine fishes, not only at the 
Plymouth Laboratory but also in others at 
Granton, Cleethorpes, and _ elsewhere. We 
have not to read far into the pages of this 
work before we find a natural history of far 
more intelligent character and scientific nature 


>. 


Fe S 


¥ yy, 


TRANSFORMATION OF FLOUNDER. 


(From Cunningham's “ Marketable Marine Fishes.’’) 


Figs. 59-62, four stages in the transformation of the founder. Fig. 59, the larva (73 inch 
in length), two days after hatching, the yolk not yet all absorbed; fig. 60, the same, six days 
after hatching, the yolk all absorbed and the mouth open Gop ance in length); fig. 61, specimen 


in a transition stage, with the left eye near the edge o 


e head (length, “42, inch) ; fig. 62, 


specimen in which the transformation is nearly complete, the left eye on the edge of the 


head (same length). 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 335 


than most of the older ones hitherto published. 
This is to be attributed to the more exact study of 
these animals during the last decade, especially in 
regard to embryology, in consequence of the work 
done in the numerous marine biological stations 
now established in various parts of Europe and 
America. In Chapter i. of this work, Mr. 
Cunningham reviews the modern investigations of 
the subject. This chapter will be found to contain 
some thirty pages of great interest, carrying us 
over the work done from 1862 down to the close of 
last year. Not the least of this is to be traced to the 
patient investigations of 
the science staff of the 
British Marine Biologi- 
cal Association at Ply- 
mouth and elsewhere. 
When we remember the 
crude manner of the 
so-called scientific work 
of investigation into 
the natural history of 
marine fishes in the 
early sixties, and what 
we may call the ‘‘ Buck- 
land” period, we find 
the value of the modern 
systematized research 
which has lifted the old 
natural history into 
several exact sciences. 
We think of the differ- 
ent types of knowledge 
between the two periods 
as we remember the fact 
that the popular Com- 
missioner of Fisheries 
of the early period on 
being shown some living 
herrings in a_ tank 
at Rothsay, exclaimed, 
“Those are no herrings, 
they haven’t red gills.” 
The general plan of the 
book before us is based 
upon the latest informa- 
tion gathered by the 
author from _ personal 
experience and that of 
other modern investiga- 
tors; the former source 
being by no means the 
least valuable. The 
treatment of the sub- 
jects discussed is so 
simple and plain that we 
may call it ‘‘popular”’ 
in the best sense; for 
it may be understood 
by the least initiated 
readers. The _ illustra- 
tions are generally well drawn and carefully selected 
to explain what isintended. The drawings are by no 
means stinted in number, and are largely original, 
so containing many subjects which have not been 
hitherto shown in English works on fishes. 
Through the courtesy of Messrs. Macmillan we 
are enabled to give examples which show the 
modern character of the work. We cannot too 
strongly recommend this excellent book to our 
readers, who will find ample information and 
satisfaction for the comparatively low price for so 
handsome a volume. We also venture to con- 
gratulate the executive of the Marine Biological 


TRANSFORMATION OF FLatT-FIsH. 


(From Cunningham’s ‘‘Marketable Marine Fishes.”) 


Figs. 100-105.—The two sides of the head in three 
different stages ina left-sided young flat-fish, in which 
the right eye passes through the head region to reach 
the left side (Rhomboidichthys). The two upper figures 
show an eye on each side of the head, but the right eye 
is higher in position. In the middle figures the rigiit eye 
is beginning to appear on the left side through a slit 
above the left eye. Inthe third figures the passage of the 
right eye is very nearly completed. (After Steenstrup.) 


Association for the initiative in issuing a work 
which cannot fail to be of real value to the 
community at large. 

The Flora of the Alps. By ALFRED W. BENNETT, 
MVA., BiSc:, E.L.S4 S8vo:) Voli i, Part 1.) With 
15 coloured plates. (London: John C. Nimmo, 
1897.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 
~ This work will be most welcome and useful to 
amateur botanists and others visiting the Alpine 
regions of Central and Western Europe. It is to 
be issued in eight monthly parts. and when com- 
plete will make two handsome volumes, illustrated 

by 120 coloured plates. 
It is a guarantee that 
the work will be trust- 
worthy when we see Mr. 
Bennett’s name as re- 
sponsible for the letter- 

t press. In dealing with 
Fig ror. the species, the plan is 

to notice, at least by 

name, every flowering 
\ ff plant occurring in the 
TNs Swiss, French, Italian 
and Austrian Alps, also 
in the Pyrenees. In 
each case some descrip- 
tion is given, and one 
or more coloured plates 
for thé natural orders. 
It has been arranged 
that the last part shall 
contain an index of 
Latin and English 
names, with a glossary 
of unfamiliar terms, for 
the general reader who 
has not been especially 
trained in botany. The 
primary object of the 
two volumes will be ‘‘ to 
provide the tourist with 
a handbook by which 
he can recognize the 
plants which are likely 
to attract his attention 
in his Alpine wander- 
ings.” Now that it is 
the custom for various 
touring clubs, educa- 
tional centres and excur- 
sion agencies to send 
over parties to Alpine 
Europe every season, 
such a book as this 
cannot be too widely 
known; for every party 
should carry at least 
one copy. With the 
aid of the coloured 
plates there will not 
be much difficulty in gaining considerable knowledge 
of the flowers which in Alpine regions are so 
abundant in summer time. The parts of this work 
are not to be sold separately, but by subscription 
for the whole book. 

Natural History in Shakespeare’s Time. By H. M. 
SEAGER, M.B., etc. 364 pp. large 8vo, illustrated. 
(London: Elliot Stock, 1896.) Price 8s. 6d. 

On looking over the pages of this admirable 
compilation, one is struck by the immense differ- 
ence between the knowledge of ‘‘ natural history ”’ 
of our own times and those sources from which 
Shakespeare could have drawn his information 


Wy, 


336 


had he depended on books rather than his own 
acute observation. Of course, the condition of 
ignorance, inaccuracy and misrepresentation which 
existed in the time of the greatest of poet-dramatists 
extended far forward towards our own days. 
Neither can we claim that it has all disappeared, 
even though we pride ourselves on the modern 
advance of natural science investigations. Mr. 
Seager has used much discretion in his selection 
of quotations, though the sources of his research 
are limited. The books which he quotes number 
about a dozen, and certainly form as quaint a 
collection of ignorant teachers as could well be 
brought together. Their dates of publication 
range from the end of the fifteenth century to the 
first quarter of the seventeenth century. Mr. 
Seager has arranged the subjects alphabetically, 
and usually gives quotations from the old authors 
without comment, beyond a reference as to where 
they are to be found. Such comments as he 
makes upon the application of the words by 
Shakespeare are well considered and often useful. 
The following are examples of the quotations 
presented in the work before us: 

““Cucxoo.—‘' A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ iii, 
I, 134. ‘The cuckoo is a dishonest bird, and is 
very slow, and does not stay ina place. In winter 
it is said to lose its feathers; and it enters a hole 
in the earth or hollow trees; there, in the summer, 
it lays up that on which it lives in the winter. 
They have their own time of coming, and are borne 
upon the wings of kites because of their short and 
small flight, lest they be tired in the long tracts of 
air and die. From their spittle grasshoppers are 
produced. In the winter it lies languishing and 
unfeathered, and looks like an owl.’ (‘ Hortus 
Sanitatis,’ bk. iii, ch. xxxix.) ‘If you mark where 
your right foot doth stand at the first time that 
you do hear the cuckoo, and then grave or take up 
the earth under the same, wheresoever the same is 
sprinkled about there will fleas breed. And I 
know it hath proved true.’ (Lupton: ‘A Thousand 
Notable Things,’ bk. iii, § 47.) ” 

‘‘ REL.—‘ Love’s Labour Lost,’ i, 2, 30. ‘The 
eel is generated from the slime of other fishes; it 
is hard to skin, and very difficult to kill, as it lives 
even after it is skinned; it is disturbed by the 
sound of thunder. It is most easily caught when 
the Pleiades have set. And they say that in the 
eastern River Ganges eels are gendered with feet 
to walk on the land. Eels live for eight years, 
and they exist without water for six days while 
north-east wind blows, but less while the south 
wind blows. Among eels there is no male nor 
female, and they gender neither live creature nor 
egg, as they are neuter.’ (‘Hortus Sanitatis,’ 
bk. iv, § 2.) ” 

Though much of what appears in the quotations 
in this book now seems absurd, we would undertake 
to find many people still living who believe such 
statements. Indeed, among enlightened persons it 
was only within the present ‘‘ nineties’”’ that they 
learned the truth about the life-history of young 
eels. We must congratulate Mr. Seager upon 
making so interesting a book, which will afford 
amusement to everyone who dips into its pages, 
whether science student or layman. The old and 
quaint wood-blocks selected for illustration are 
hardly more wonderfully misleading from an 
educational point of view than the letterpress 
which accompanies them. The publisher has 
produced a handsome volume, one suitable to 
every library. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


British Game Birds and Wild Fowl. By BEVERLEY 
R. Morris, M.D. Revised by W. B. TEGETMIER, 
F.Z.S. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897.) In 
twelve monthly parts. Super royal 8vo. Price 
2s. 6d. per part, net. 

This work, which was first issued in 1855, has 
been revised and brought up to date by Mr. Teget- 
mier, the well-known contributor of articles on 
certain ornithological groups, game birds among 
others. Not only has he renovated the letterpress 
for this new edition, but also the plates have been 
overhauled, and in some instances corrected. It is 
difficult to judge to what extent the work has been 
rewritten, as there is not anything to indicate the 
new from the old. In the part before us much of 
the matter is up to date; so it may be concluded 
that a large portion of it isnew. This should be 
considered chiefly as a sportsman’s book, as there is 
no pretence of its being of a scientific character. 
When complete there are to be sixty large coloured 
plates and 382 pages of printed matter. 


Annual Report of Smithsonian Institution. (To July, 
1894.) Pp. xl. and 770, 8vo, illustrated by 70 plates, 
photographs and drawings. (Washington: Govern- 
ment Printing Office, 1896.) 

This handsome volume is fully up to the usual 
excellence of the Smithsonian Reports, which 
contain not only particulars of the national 
scientific institution of the United States of 
America, but also a selection of important papers 
published elsewhere. The former section in this 
volume occupies eighty-three pages, whilst the 
latter appear in a ‘‘General Appendix ”’ of 626 
pages. 

South London Natural History Society: Abstract of 
Proceedings foy 1896. 131 pp. 8vo. (London: 
The Society, Hibernia Chambers, S.E., 1897.) 
Price 2s. 6d. 

The South London Entomological and Natural 
History Society has reason to thank a few of its 
members for the personal and financial aid given 
in producing these ‘‘ Transactions,’ which by the 
balance sheet we see cost £28, out of which £15 15s. 
is paid for by donations. The Society is in a 
prosperous condition, and possesses a substantial 
balance in its favour. The ‘‘ Transactions” before 
us form an exceptionally interesting volume, con- 
taining much original observation and several 
papers of value. 


Some Unrecognized Laws of Nature. 
SINGER and Lewis H. BERHENS. 
8vo, illustrated by 67 figures. 
Murray, 1897.) Price 18s. 

This important work deals with the consideration 
by the authors of a number of recognized physical 
phenomena which have been independently 
explored by them. The work represents an 
immense amount of thoughtful labour, which 
cannot fail to command the respect of the readers 
of the book, even if in all cases they do not agree 
fully with the deductions and interpretations. The 
plan is to divide it into four sections, which deal 
with (1) Methods of Enquiry ; (2) First Principles ; 
(3) Phenomenology, or the Interconvertibility of 
Forces ; (4) Gravitation. We must leave to those 
of our readers who care to study the various 
subjects the formation of their own opinions on 
the theories, remarkable in some instances, pro- 
pounded by the authors. There can be no doubt 
of the magnitude of the task undertaken by them, 
which amounts to converting modern physicists 
from some very firmly-established theories. 


By IeGnatius 


483 pp. large 
(London: John 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


TRO 


CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. 


Position at Noon. 


Rises Sets R 
May hm. h.m him. Dec. 
Sun see Zier 4-22 2.1 7-30 p.m. 2.59 «.. 16° 58’ N. 
17 4.7 -- 7-46 3:38" 2) 107 277 
2 3.55 oe 50 APIS, 220 217123" 
Rises. Souths. Sets 
Moon ... 7... 7.58amM. 4.31 p.m. 020 a.m 
17 9.55 p-M. ... 0.18 a.m. 35 
27 1.41 a.m. ... 8.49 .-- 4.13 p.m. 
Position at Noon. 
Souths. Semi R.A. 
h. m. Diameter. hm. Dec. 
WNEFEUSY 2 72 --t AESD TN s SO WS tec 23a aN 
I 0.20 5" 9 4:2, <.. 207 26! 
é 27 ... 11.21 a.m 5"9 sey Se le 
Venus ... 7 ... 10.59 ee D 256 ... 15° 47 N 
17 10.11 25" 0 T5593) 2.011239! 
27 «-- 9.38 21" 3 150) coe Ue gs 
Mars... 7... 4.42p.m 2" 6 FN es BE CAN | 
17 4.26 2" 5 8.8 2i° 51” 

2 27 -.- 4.10 oa BA 8.31 20° 28! 
juptter ...17 .... 6.31 eG 10.14 12° 17'N 
Saturn ...17 ... 11.5 ae re) 15-43 iz? 2485S 
Uranus ... 17 ... 11-55 peal 15.39 19° 17'S 
Neptune ...17 ... 1.31 Ber sha 5-13 ar 41’N 

Moon’s PHASES. 
him, him. 
New ... May 1 ... 8.46 p.m. 1st Qr. ... May g ... 9.37 p-M 
Full Sap NE ROkes2. ke ay SIU O7n-.- G3 (25 <2. 9342-1. 
WES et gn Slee O20 a, 


Sun.—Spots are of considerable frequence upon 
the disc, some being of great interest from their 
rapid changes. 


Mercory is in splendid position for observation 
at the commencement of May, not setting on the 
ist until 2h. tom. after the sun. On the 3rd, at 
about 9 p.m., it may be found a little to the south- 
west of the crescent moon. It rapidly nears the 
sun, being in inferior conjunction on the 21st at 
7am. 


VENUS is a morning star, which may be observed 
a little before sunrise in the latter part of the 
month as a very narrow crescent. 


Mars is now an insignificant object, setting a 
little after midnight during the entire month, 
approaching near § Cancri, 4th-magnitude, on 
the 31st. 


JUPITER is near Regulus all the month, being on 
the meridian about 7.30 p.m. at the beginning of 
the month, and setting about 2.45 a.m. At the end 
of the month he sets just before midnight. 


SATURN rises about 8.33 p.m. on the ist and 
about 6.30 on the 31st. About 5 a.m. on the 18th, 
Saturn is in opposition, so that during this month 
the planet is at its best. A very small telescope 
will show its largest satellite, Titan. The rings 
now present a magnificent spectacle. On May 
25th the outer ring has its greatest apparent 
diameter, 43’05, and its least, 17’43, the polar 
diameter of the planet being 172. The whole 
month it remains near to B Scorpii. 


URANUS is at its best for this year, coming into 
opposition on May 17th, at 6 p.m., just eleven 


337 


hours earlier than Saturn, but its low altitude in 
this country is much against successful observation. 


NEPTUNE is too close to the sun to be observed. 


METEORS may be looked out for specially on 
May 2nd, 4th, 15th, and 31st. 


VARIABLE STARS in good position during May 
and June are :— 


R.A. Magnitude. 

hm. Dec. Max. Mim. Period. 
S Corone Bor. 15.16 31° so N. 6 11°8 
R a cemety49 128c1S3 IN. 860 yxa0 
30g. Hercnlis 16.24 42°10 N. 4'9 62 413d. 
S) + 16.45 15° go N. 63 12°5 301‘od. 
a a 17.8 14° 32 Ne 31 39 Var. Mn., ro2d. 
fj Libre we 14.54 BoliaiSh. Gag 6'o 2d. 7h. 51m. 
X Sagittarii... 17.38 27°46 S. 4°0 60 7d. oh. 25m. 
Ww ; Bess (2035S 5's 65 7d. 14h. 8m. 
R Serpentis... 15.44 15° 31 N. 57 <11’0 3560d. 
7" Cyenitc- 19.52 34°45’ N- 370 67 


This brings our list of variable stars to a close. 
In the new volume we intend giving monthly a 
short list of those remarkable objects known as 
red stars. 


A New OBSERVATORY FOR LonpoN.—At the 
meeting of the British Astronomical Association on 
March 31st, Mr. E. W. Maunder announced that 
on that afternoon the Council had accepted the 
generous offer of a site for an observatory by the 
Royal Botanical Society. The spot offered is 
Situated in the grounds of that Society in Regent’s 
Park, and is to be held at a pepper-corn rent. A 
committee was appointed to carry out the negotia- 
tions. The Park is a good place for an observatory, 
from the large amount of sky room which it offers. 
Furthermore, it was in Regent’s Park that Mr. 
George Bishop’s observatory stood, with its seven- 
inch Dollond equatoreal. The late Dr. J. R. Hind 
became assistant in 1844, and succeeded in here 
discovering ten of the minor planets, another being 
found by Herr Marth. 


Jupiter’s Bertts.—At the same meeting two 
papers by Rev. W. R. Waugh were read, dealing 
with the aspect of the planet this season, and 
pointing out particularly the increase of width and 
activity in the north equatorial belt. The south 
equatorial belt is becoming more of a brick-red 
colour, almost as intense as the great red spot was 
when at its best. That object has now faded so 
much that only its following end can be observed 
with telescopes of moderate aperture. It is not 
only the changes in contour of the markings which 
are a mystery, but also the changes in colour. 


THE GREAT NEBULA IN OrION.—The April 
number of ‘‘ Knowledge”’ contains a plate of the 
photograph of this wonderful object, taken by Dr. 
Isaac Roberts with his great reflector after a 
double exposure given on two nights, making a 
total of seven hours. In the accompanying note 
the doctor raises a question as to the benefit to be 
derived from any longer exposure of the photo- 
graphic plate. The marvellous curdled appearance 
of the nebula is well brought out in the photograph, 
and which the late Sir John Herschel described as 
looking like ‘‘a curdling liquid, or a surface strewed 
over with flocks of wool, or the breaking up of a 
mackerel sky.” 


Mars.—During the past opposition, last Decem- 
ber, Professor Schur, using the Repsold heliometer, 
measured the planet with great care. The 
equatorial diameter varied from 6-210" to 6°310", 
and the polar diameter from 6°125” to 6°135”. 


338 


af tione 


Mr. W. F. DE V. Kane, M.A., F.E.S., reports 
the capture in County Cork of a moth rare in 
Europe (Leucania unipuncta, Haw.). This is the 
second time it has been taken in Ireland. It is 
an abundant species in America, where it is known 
as the army-worm, and one of the worst enemies 
of the cotton and other crops. 


THE new number of the “‘ Journal of the Marine 
Biological Association of the United Kingdom” 
contains several articles of importance, including 
one upon a new British crab, by Mr. Walter 
Garstang. This is Porvtumnus nasutus, Latr., found 
by the author at Drakes Island. It may be over- 
looked as an abnormal young shore-crab (Carcinus 
meénas), which it somewhat resembles. 


In his report of February last, just issued by the 
Director of the Marine Biological Association, Mr. 
Allen reminds us that though the United States 
Government allows the Commission of Fish and 
Fisheries no less than £35,000 for annual salaries 
alone, the total income of the Biological Association 
of this country hardly reaches £2,000 a year. 


WE fear this will be so with the Marine Biological 
Association until it gets into closer touch with 
popular opinion in this country. At present, to 
give a piscatorial proverb, it is rather ‘‘ caviare to 
the multitude,” or, we should say, to that portion of 
the multidude who have heard of its existence 


AN important paper was read by Mr. A. B. 
MacDowall before the Royal Meteorological 
Society in London, on April 21st, upon ‘‘ Sugges- 
tions of Sunspot Influence on the Weather of 
Western Europe.’ The author believes that there 
is a tendency to greater heat in the summer half 
year and to greater cold in the winter half year 
near the phases of the minimum sunspots than 
near the phases of maximum ; the contrast between 
the cold and heat of the year thus tending to be 
intensified about the time of minimum sunspots. 


Tue following are the Lecture arrangements 
after Easter at the Royal Institution :—Dr. Tempest 
Anderson, four lectures on ‘‘ Volcanoes” (The 
Tyndall Lectures); Dr. Ernest H. Starling, three 
lectures on ‘‘ The Heart and its Work’’; the Rev. 
Canon Ainger, four lectures on ‘‘Some Leaders in 
the Poetic Revival of 1760-1820—Cowper, Burns, 
Wordsworth, Scott”; Professor Dewar, three 
lectures on ‘‘ Liquid Air as an Agent of Research ”’ ; 
the Rev. J. P. Mahaffy, three lectures on ‘‘ The 
Greek Theatre according to Recent Discoveries ”’ ; 
Mr. J. A. Fuller Maitland, four lectures on ‘‘ Music 
in England during the Reign of Queen Victoria” 
(with musical illustrations). The Friday evening 
meetings will be resumed on April 30th, when a 
discourse will be given by Professor J. J. Thomson, 
on ‘‘ Cathode Rays’’; succeeding discourses will 
probably be given by ‘‘ Anthony Hope,” Professor 
Harold Dixon, The Right Hon. Lord Kelvin, 
Professor H. Moissan, Mr. W. H. Preece, Mr. 
William Crookes, and other gentlemen. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


GEHEIMRATH WILHELM DO6LLEN, formerly of 
the Russian observatories of Dorpat and Pulkowa, 
has passed away. 


KitEs are being used at Blue Hill Observatory, 
Massachusetts, for obtaining meteorological records 
in the upper air. These kites have been flown at 
an altitude of 8,740 feet above Blue Hill. They 
are controlled by a steam winch and fine wire 
cords. Several hundred successful ‘‘ flights” have 
been obtained, with much valuable data from 
automatic instruments for taking the necessary 
observations in humidity, changes of temperature, 
and wind strength. 


AMERICA has lost one of its leading biologists in 
Professor Edward Drinker Cope, who died on 
April 12th last, aged 59. Few men of science have 
left behind a more vivid impression of their 
usefulness than has Professor Cope. He was a 
man of wide experience as a paleontologist and 
authority on living vertebrata. As an original 
thinker he was independent and bold, but always 
commanded the respect of both disciples and 
opponents. 


Wuy is the herbarium at the Folkestone Free 
Museum practically inaccessible to the visitors ? 
We recently desired to compare a specimen for 
identification, but were informed we could not do 
so without applying for permission to the Hon. 
Curator of the department elsewhere. Keys of all 
the other collections are left with the attending 
curator of the museum. Isit that the Hon. Curator 
of Botany is ashamed of the contents of the 
herbarium, or are the plants too valuable for the 
public gaze ? 

Tue Second Annual Congress of the South- 
Eastern Union of Scientific Societies will be held 
at Tunbridge Wells on Friday and Saturday, May 
21st and 22nd, under the Presidency of the Rev. 
T. R. R. Stebbing, M.A., F.R.S. The Union now 
comprises some thirty societies. On May 2ist 
the general meeting will be held at 3 p.m., and 
a conversazione at 8 p.m. On Saturday 22nd, 
business will be continued from 9.30 to 1.30, and at 
3 p.m. there are to be excursions and a garden party. 


WE have been favoured with an advance copy 
of ‘‘ Wild-Bird Protection and Nesting-Boxes,” 
by Mr. John R. B. Masefield, M.A., a prettily 
produced little book devoted to the encouragement 
of the preservation of wild birds. It is illustrated 
with some reproduced drawings and photographs. 
The author is enthusiastic on his subject, and has 
added much upon the growth of the protective 
laws for birds and a list of County Council orders 
for their application. It is published by Taylor 
Bros. of Leeds, and costs five shillings. 


THERE is not any greater incentive for encourage- 
ment to the student-collector of any branch of 
natural history than a well-arranged and clearly- 
printed label-list for the specimens kept for 
reference. This has been provided by Mr. H. N. 
Dixon, M.A., F.L.S., for the British mosses, as a 
companion to the handbook of those plants which 
we favourably noticed (ante p. 104) in September 
last. The list is in two forms, one pamphlet- 
shaped for exchanging and the other in slip form 
for cutting up for labels. They are published by 
Mr. V. T. Sumfield, of Eastbourne, and Messrs. 
Wheldon and Co., 58, Great Queen Street, London ; 
price sixpence each. Micro-botanists will find 
them most useful. Accompanying these is an 
alphabetical list of the Genera of British Mosses. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ee AI yES = 
A SCIENCE ABROAD), : 
23 om 1) 108 i 
WX LESS pit 


wr 


CONTRIBUTED BY FLORA WINSTONE. 


JAHRES-KATALOG PRO 1897 DER WIENER 
KRYPTOGAMEN-TAUSCHANSTALT. — The Vienna 
Exchange Office for Cryptogams undertakes to 
negotiate for its members the exchange and 
purchase of cryptogams well prepared. Botanists 
desiring to participate in the exchange must send 
two lists not later than September 15th (alphabeti- 
cally arranged within the groups Pteridophyte, 
Musci Hepatics, Fungi, Lichenes, Algze, Characez) 
of those plants which can be furnished until 
October 15th at latest. All the plants should 
have a label on white paper, written in Latin or an 
universal language, as follows: (1) The Latin 
name of the plant and the author’s name; (2) 
country and locality, most distinctly; (3) date of 
collection ; (4) name of the collector. The address 
of the Vienna Cryptogammic Exchange Office is 
11, Igelgasse, Vienna. 


La NaTurALEZzA (Madrid, March 28th, April 8th, 
1897). Don R. Becerro de Bengoa writes in the 
number for March 28th, on ‘‘Argon and Nitrogen 
in Arterial and Veinous Blood,” giving the 
proportion of these gases to be found in the blood 
of an average man. There is also an illustrated 
unsigned article on ‘‘Luminous Plants.’”’ The 
various theories with regard to the cause of this 
curious phenomenon are clearly stated, and some of 
the plants described. April 8th.—The Director of 
the magazine contributes some notes on ‘‘ Ozone at 
great heights,” giving a list of many places and the 
relative amount of ozone to be found there. These 
statements are founded on the observations and 
experiments of M. M. Thierry at the observatory 
of Mont Blanc. Don Carlos Bants continues his 
series of articles, with tables, on the ‘ Lighting 
Powers” of various substances. There is an 
illustrated note, unsigned, on a ‘‘ New Aquatic 
Velocipede,”’ which has been invented by Sr. Breyer. 
The machine, when on land, is convertible into 
an ordinary bicycle. 


La FEUILLE DES JEUNES NATURALISTES (Paris, 
April rst). We regret to learn from a note by 
M. A. Dollfus, that he has lost his mother, 
Madame Dollfus, who, on the death of her eldest 
son, the founder of the journal, carried it on for 
many years, assisted only by M. E. Dollfus. 
Until her death, she was actively connected with 
the magazine, and generally contributed the 
“Book Reviews.” M. Eug. Simon commences in 
this number his series of articles on ‘‘ The 
Revision of the Genera of Trochilides,’’ which 
will apparently run through several numbers. 
M. H. W. Broelemann completes his series, 
well illustrated, on ‘‘ Materials for a Fauna 
of Myriapoda of France.’’ He describes at 
length four new species and one new variety 
of Julus kervillei var. meridionalis. M. J. Castelnau 
contributes some ‘‘ Notes upon Hyptiotes anceps,” 
illustrated with a description by Dr. T. Thorell. 
M. Ernest Malimaud gives an account of 
new species which have been added to the 


339 


French flora, a fern (Botrychium simplex, Hitchc.), 
and a lily (Gagea foliosa, Roem. and Sch.). The 
former, found in the United States for the first 
time in 1823, has been known in the North of 
Europe; the latter, in the Mediterranean district. 
M. G. Mantero reports a new species of Vifio, 
Latr., Vipio gestroi. Two illustrations are given. 


BULLETIN DE LA SocliT& ZOOLOGIQUE DE 
FRANCE (Paris, February, 1897). M. Edouard 
Blanc contributes an article ‘‘On the Elephants 
of Northern Africa and Higher Egypt: A Reply to 
Dr. Trouessart.” In the course of his reply toa 
paper read by Dr. Trouessart at a meeting of the 
society, M. Blanc discusses the best means of 
preserving elephants in the above-mentioned 
regions. He is of opinion that, in addition to 
restrictions in hunting them, the best means is to 
give to the living animal a commercial value higher 
than that of the ivory. Professor Van Bambeke, 
the Honorary President of the Society, gave an 
address at the annual general meeting on ‘‘ The 
Domain of Zoology.”’ He divides the study of 
Zoology into two headings—Morphology and 
Physiology. Taking Morphology as his first 
subject, he subdivides it into Descriptive Zoology, 
or the study of the form and exterior characters of 
the animal; Descriptive Anatomy, or Zootomic, the 
special study of the organs or interior structure; 
and the General History, which is the study of 
the fundamental and simple tissues. M. Van 
Bambeke impressed on his hearers the necessity 
for a knowledge of anatomy as well as physiology. 
He quoted the works of Cruveilhier, the anatomist, 
that ‘‘ Without anatomy, physiology is built upon 
the sand, for physiology is the main point that 
anatomy explains.” M. Henri Gadeau de Kerrville 
contributes ‘‘Some Personal Observations on the 
Extension of the Crest, Wing and Tail, as a means 
of Defence and Attack among Birds.’’ He puts 
forth the theory that the crest and other ornaments 
of the peacock are useful for attack at well as 
attraction. He instances an attack on a dog, who, 
though well able to defeat the peacock, isapparently 
stupified by the imposing appearance of the bird 
advancing with erected crest and outspread wings 
and tail. In this opinion M. de Kerville is 
supported by M. Paul Noel. 


BULLETIN DE La SOcIETE RoyaLE LINNEENNE 
DE BRUXELLES (Brussels, March, 1897). M. J. 
Gachelin writes on ‘' The Lily-of-the-Valley at all 
Seasons of the Year.’’ He discusses means of 
keeping this beautiful flower in bloom all the year 
round. He describes the method employed in 
America to keep the Lily-of-the-Valley flowering 
for nine or ten months consecutively. The system 
appears to be to place the roots in bottles 
and cover with sand, and then put them in 
an ice-house. Dr. Nysseus gives an account of 
the plague of caterpillars which for the last few 
years have ravaged the country from Ophoven to 
Kessenich. Last year the oaks were destroyed 
in the most remarkable manner. He suggests that 
the chrysalis should be rigorously killed, especially 
between July 15th and August 15th, before 
the imago can be developed. Also, that as at that 
time the moth lays little nests of eggs at the tops 
of trees, it should be destroyed before doing so. 
These ravages appear to be caused by a moth 
Ocneria dispar, which is not very common in England 
when compared with its abundance in central 
Europe. M. E. Lejeune contributes an article on 
‘* The Influence of Cold upon Plants.” 


THE Cominc oF Sprinec.—Far away from the 
bustle of town life, iar too from the grimy smoke 
and yellow mist which shrouds our large cCiiies, 
is a quiet, peaceful spot where the advent ‘of spring 
is earlier and far more apparent than it can 
ever be in the neighbourhood oi closely-crowded 


dwellings. This earthly paradise is but a strip of 
common land a few feet above ihe sea-level, yet 
here spring reveals herself with a delicacy and 
beauty which is well nigh indescribable. The 
sparkling waves roll lazily in and break into a 
line of white fluffy foam ai one’s feet. Above high- 
water mark there is sand, white, sun-dried sand, 
smoothed over by the breeze, or blown inio little 
drifts wherever stones or heaps of dry seaweed 
bar the onward progress of the tiny particles. 
Almosi imperceptibly the beach merges inio a line 
of very low sand-hills clothed with a sparse 
growth of dry rushes and prickly-leaved plants. 
It is delightful to lie idly among these dunes, in a 
hollow in the sand, sheltered from the wind and 
warmed by the sun’s rays. Thus resting, one may 
look oui over the vast expanse of dancing waier, 
with its rich variety of blues ard greens and 

greys, and the dark patches marked by passing 
distant clouds. Nearer in shore are gulls, some 
flying and swimming about a sand-bank ‘left dry by 
the falling tide. All is peaceful. No sound is 
audible, save the regular, never-ceasing break of 
the waves and ihe hoarse cries oi ihe birds. 
Behind these sand-hills is the common, wiih soft, 
close, green turi under foot. Gecrse bushes, 
covered with golden blossoms, are on every side, 


and the cloudless blue of the sky above. The 
silence seems almost oppressive now ihat the 
waves and the gulls are beyond hearing. The 


warm sunshine peurs down upon the gorse flowers, 
and the whole air is charged with their fragrant 
perfume. The smell reminds one of peaches, yet, 
in reality, it is very different. Amongst the grass, 
great blue dog-violets nod gently to the passing 
breeze, and a huge, hairy, yellow-banded bee 
buzzes aimlessly by. Suddenly a lark springs up 
afew yards in front, and goes away up inio the 
heavens, pouring forth its flood of song. The 
music is ‘‘as old as the hills,” so to speak, yet it 
never palls) We have heard the same song many 
times sore yet we are always delighted to hear 
it again, and shall be until the al comes. Of 
how many songs of man’s making could this be 
said? Yet, soit is with Nature: none of her ways 
ever become old io those who waich them with 
eyes tempered with love and reverence of her. 
Beyond ihe common the ground rises. On ihe 
slope is a coppice with underwood of two or three 
years’ growth separated from the gorse by a wide 
ditch. The ground under the bushes is ‘carpeted 
with primroses and wood anemones, whose stellate 
blossoms are seen through a network of brown 
twigs and branches. A tiny silvery trickle comes 
to the ear from where a red, moss-grown tile 
empties its sparkling shower into the ditch below. 
On the bank is a primrose plant remarkable for its 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


size and beauty. All the flowers seem to be 
striving to catch a glimpse of the splashing water. 
There are numbers of them on this one plant, each 
with its five yellow petals ranged round the orange 
centre. This coppice will resound to the song of 
the nightingale ere many days have passed. They 
alwayscome. Thousands of yearsago the ancestors 
of these little brown birds came, probably to this 
very spot, and sang their wonderful song all 
through the sunny days and far into the moonlit 
nights. Then man was nothing but a half-naked 
Savage, roaming the forests by day and sheltering 
in caves by night; but the nightingales came, 
built their nests of dead, brown leaves, reared 
their young, and carried out all those delightful 

ittle domestic duties which are ascribed to instinct 
Inst as cleverly and well as they did last year, and 

as they will this spring, in a week or so. —Aljred 
H. Bastin, Ivy House, New Road, Reading; April, 1897. 


AUSTRALIAN Woot. — The iniroduction of 
Australian wool into England appears io have 
been due to a Quaker, Samuel Marsden, who went 
to Australia in 1808. He sent a quantity of 
Australian wool to one William Tompson. This 
was made into cloth, and as the material was so 
Satisfactory two coats were made out of it—one 
for Samuel Marsden, who appeared in this coat 
before George III. The king was so pleased with 
its appearance that he ordered one for himself, 
aad gave Mr. Marsden six merino sheep to 

improve the breed in Ausiralia. 


“SPIRZA JAPONICA.”—The plant commonly sold 
potted for decorative purposes under this name, 
has no claim to it at all. It does not even belong 
to the same natural order as the true Spirza. It 
bears 2 somewhai superficial general resemblance 
to them, and by anyone slighily acquainted with 
botany may easily be mistaken for a foreign species 
ofithegenus. A litile careful examination, however, 
makes the differences obvious. There are two 
indigenous British members of the genus Spireza, 
S. jilipendula and S. wmara, the well-imown 
beautifully-scented “and graceful queen-of-the 
meadows, or meadow-sweet. These, like almosi 
all the members of the great natural order Rosacez 
to which they belong, have ‘‘ indefinite” stamens ; 
that is tweniy or more, while the pseudo-spirza 
has ten only, a fact of itself sufficient to make one 
pause in considering iis systematic position, and 
observe more carefully the pistil or ceniral organ 
oi the flower, upon which, chiefly, the final 
decision is founded. This, in the true Sfirea, is 
composed of ‘‘ carpels five or more, free or connate 
below,’ seated on the open receptacle. In the 
first British species named they are straighi, in 
S. ulmaria much twisted; in each case two ovules 
are present ; fruit follicles, five or more. While in 
the other case there are two carpels only, united 
below into a two-celled ovary, separate above with 
terminal stigmas, ovules many, fruit a capsule. 
The ovary is sub-superior, i2. the lower part 
adheres to the calyx tube, while the upper is free. 
These characteristics bring the plant into natural 
order Saxifragacez, which. though closely allied to 
the Rosacez, is siill sufficiently distinci. Tis 
correct name is Astilbe japonica. —Jame es Burion, 9, 
Agamemnon Road, West Hampstead. 


NicHTinGAates.—These birds were in early song 
this season in several localities in southern Kent 
and Sussex, the soft, damp weather having been 
in favour of the produciion of their insectivorous 
food. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Mottusca oF Kent.—As I am engaged in com- 
piling a list of the Land and Freshwater Mollusca 
of Kent, I would ask any of the numerous readers 
of SciENCE-Gossip to furnish me with the records 
of any of the rarer shells they may have found in 


the ‘‘Garden of England.’”’ Records are par- 
ticularly wanted of Vertigo (all species), Amalia 
gagates, Avion subfuscus, Hyalinia draparnaldi, Helix 
fusca, Buliminus montanus, Pupa secale, Acicula lineata, 
Dreissensia polymorpha, Sphevium ovalis, Viviparus con- 
tectus, and Planorbis glaber.—A.S. Kennard, Benenden, 
Mackenzie Road, Beckenham, Kent. 


ABNORMAL ORANGES.—The oranges to which 
your correspondents refer (ante page 307) are well- 
known and greatly esteemed in the United States, 
though until recently they have been but little 
used in Britain. They area perfectly distinct fruit, 
properly known as the ‘‘ Washington Navel.” 
They are almost invariably seedless. These oranges 
are on sale in Britain, and are sometimes described 
as ‘‘ Washington Naval’’ or simply as ‘‘ Naval 
oranges.”” Of course, the incorrectness of this 
name is obvious when one realises that the 
derivation of the name ‘‘navel’’ is from the 
peculiarity noted by your correspondents. — H. 
Snowden Ward, Farvingdon Avenue, London, E.C.; 
April 6th, 1897. 


Great Auxk’s EaG.—Mr. Stevens sold at his 
Auction Rooms in King Street, Covent Garden, on 
April 14th, another egg of the extinct great auk. 
It originally came out of the collection of Mr. 
Potts of Croydon, who had three specimens. Two 
of these were sold about 1853 in the same room as 
that on April r4th. One realised £29 and the 
other £30. The third was retained for many years 
afterwards by Mr. Potts, but eventually was 
acquired by Mr. Leopold Field, the well-known 
ornithologist. When the latter gentleman gave up 
his collection, this egg and the skin of a great auk 
were purchased by Mr. Rowland Ward of 
Piccadilly, who sold the skin to the Hon. Walter 
Rothschild for the Tring Museum, where we 
believe there are now two skins. The egg was sent 
to Mr. Stevens for sale in April, and reached the 
sum of two hundred and eighty guineas. It was 
purchased by Mr. Middlebrook, an enterprising 
public-house proprietor of Mornington Road, 
Regent’s Park, London, who has attached to his 
premises a small show to attract customers. In 
this ‘‘free museum”’ is another great auk’s egg 
which Mr. Middlebrook also purchased at the 
Stevens’ Sale Rooms, some little time ago, for one 
hundred and sixty-five guineas. The specimen last 
sold by Mr. Stevens was well marked and in perfect 
order. It is the third which has recently been 
purchased in the same rooms, not for science’s 
sake, but for ‘‘ bold advertisement.” It is not for 
us to complain how and when a purchase is made 
in a public auction room, but we cannot help 
feeling regret that one of these rare eggs has not 
gone to the national collection at South Kensington, 
where a good specimen is sadly needed. 


341 


REARING DRAGON-FLIES.— Mr. James G. 
Needham, of Ithaca, New York, who is engaged 
upon a popular monograph of North American 
dragon-flies, contributes to the April number of 
the ‘‘Canadian Entomologist’ a paper on rearing 
these handsome insects. Having described how 
easy it is to collect the nymphs with the aid of a 
garden-rake to pull out the water-weeds to 
which the nymphs cling, or a water-net, Mr. 
Needham proceeds to say: ‘‘ They are quite easily 
reared. I have found common wooden kits and 
pails half filled with water, with screen or netting 
covers, entirely satisfactory. A number of nymphs, 
if near one size, may be safely kept together, 
excepting a few notoriously cannibalistic A2schnina, 
and if not grown may be fed upon such small 
insects as a net will gather in any pond. A good 
square meal once a week will keep them thriving 
The water should be reasonably clean. Three 
things must be observed: (1) there must be a 
surface up which they can climb to transform; if 
the sides of the kit are too smooth put in some 
sticks; (2) there must be room enough between 
the netting cover and the water for complete 
expansion of their wings; (3) they must remain 
out of doors where sunshine will reach them. 
This last point is essential to success. There is 
still an easier way to do it, and one which, when a 
species is very common, will prove entirely 
satisfactory. . . . If one will go to the edge of the 
water it frequents at the time of its emergence, one 
may find nymphs crawling from the water, others 
transforming, imagoes drying their wings and 
others ready to fly, and thus may obtain in a few 
minutes the material necessary for determining 
nymphs andimago. The time of emergence may 
be determined by noticing at what time pale young 
imagoes are seen taking their first flight, and then 
going out a little earlier. The unfortunate thing 
about it is that many of the larger species transform 
very early in the morning, and to take such 
advantage of them one must be on the ground 
between daybreak and sunrise. Imagoes should 
be kept alive until they have assumed their 
natural colours. It is most important that each 
imago and its cast skin should be kept together. 
Eggs, also, are easily obtained. If the ovipositing 
female be captured, held by the fore-wings, leaving 
the hind-wings free, and dipped by hand on the 
surface of clean water in a vial or tumbler, an 
abundance of eggs will usually be liberated.” 


SomE NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.—An 
interesting and comparative article upon the 
National Zoological Park at Washintgon, U.S.A., 
appears in the last Report of the Smith- 
sonian Institution, under whose control it has 
been placed. The total acreage occupied by the 
Washington Zoological Gardens reaches about 
167 acres, with ample supply of water for lakes, 
ponds and inclosures. It was acquired by national 
purchase about 1889, since which it has been laid 
out as a place for recreation of the citizens, as well 
as for their instruction. With regard to size, we 
understand, as becomes a national American in- 
stitution, it is the greatest in the world, the 
comparison being, in acres, Washington, 167; 
London, 36; Paris, 17; Berlin, 60. With regard 
to the population of animals on exhibition, 
we believe London more than doubles that of 
any other. For picturesqueness Washington will 
doubtless take the palm, and its extent and 
airiness should contribute to the healthiness of 
the animals confined there. 


342 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


aie 


THE SoutH LonpoN ENTOMOLOGICAL AND 
NatTuraL History Society.—March 11th, Mr. 
R. Adkin, F.E.S., President, in the chair. Mr. 
Lucas exhibited living nymphs of the dragon-fly 
Pyrrhosoma minium, from Oxshott. Mr. Tutt, a 
pine-branch with a nest of a gregarious Europterid 
moth, sent from Cannes by Dr. Chapman; it was 
presumably that of Cnethocampa pityocampa. He 
then gave the results of a recent examination of 
the ova of Tephrosia crepusculavia (bistovtata) and 
T. biundularia, illustrating his remarks with black- 
board diagrams, from drawings made under the 
Microscope that day. There were three distinct 
batches of ova: (1) of T. crepusculavia, (2) of 
T. biundulavia, and (3) the result of a cross between 
the two species—a female of the former and a male 
of the latter. The shape and texture of the three 
batches were well differentiated. Those of T. 
biundularvia were smaller, somewhat oval in shape, 
of a yellow colour, and more opaque ; whilst those 
of T. crepuscularia were cylindrical with rounded 
ends, of a pearly-green, slightly transparent and 
iridescent. The ova which were the result of the 
cross were intermediate in size, slightly more 
rounded at one end than the other, and more 
variable inter se than either of the other batches, 
which were remarkably constant in their characters. 
He was indebted to Mr. Bacot for the opportunity 
of examining these batches side by side under the 
microscope. That gentleman had succeeded in 
breeding the species at the same time, and had 
forwarded him the ova on the same day as they 
were laid. He did not know whether each baich 
was the product of a single female or not. Mr. 
Tutt then referred to the alleged occurrence of T. 
biundularia in Morayshire, and said that the opinion 
of several members was that Mr. Adkins’ specimen 
was only T. crepuscularia. Mr. Horne’s specimen 
from the same district was now exhibited, and he, 
Mr. Tutt, said that it was identical with the Perth- 
shire specimen, and of the same type as the Central 
European forms of T. crepusculavia. Mr. Mont- 
gomery, larve of Mania maura, which he had 
obtained from Mr. Young, of Rotherham. Mr. 
Adkin, specimens of Abraxas grossulariata, in one of 
which the yellow band extended across two-thirds 
of the hind-wing, and in the other the yellow 
colour was reduced in intensity to a very pale buff. 
He also showed an Arctia caia, with fore-wings 
much suffused with brown, and with the blue-black 
blotches of the hind-wings much run together. A 
long discussion then took place on the protection 
of insects in danger of extermination, and finally 
the following resolution was adopted: ‘That the 
thanks of the South London Entomological and 
Natural History Society be given to the Com- 
mittee of the Entomological Society of London, 
for the protection of species of insects in danger of 
extermination; that the Society strongly approve 
of the work; and that the members present pledge 
themselves to use their personal efforts to further 
the objects of the Committee."-—March 25th, Mr. 
R. Adkin, F.E.S., President, in the chair. B. H. 
Waters, Esq., 48, Finsbury Pavement, E.C., was 


elected a member. Mr. McArthur exhibited 
specimens of Melanipfe hastata from various 
localities, and said that he had never taken the 
species in Shetland, nor had he seen the food-plant 
there. Rev. E. Tarbat, a gynandromorphous 
specimen of Melanargia galatea, taken at Swanage. 
The markings of the underside followed those of 
the upper. Mr. Mansbridge, a bred series of 
Anchocelis vufina from Huddersfield, which were 
less uniformly tinted than the southern examples 
of this species. Mr. Tutt, specimens of Phigalia 
pedaria (pilosavia) taken near Bradford by Mr. 
Butterfield, who reported the dark vars. as much 
more common this year than he had noticed 
before, and attributed the variation to scarcity of 
food, especially as the examples were small, thinly 
scaled, and badly pigmented. Mr. Mansbridge 
said the black was of a different kind to that of the 
melanic specimens he had seen from the West Riding 
of Yorkshire. Mr. Tutt reported that Mr. Clarke 
had taken Tephrosia crepuscularia this spring from 
the wood which Mrs. Bazett had asserted did not 
produce it, and so confirmed the statement made 
by Mr. Henderson last October. Rev. E. Tarbat 
also reported the species from woods near Reading. 
Mr. Turner, living larve of Cleora lichenarvia, taken 
in Ashdown Forest, and remarked on their 
wonderful resemblance to the lichen, upon which 
they fed. He also made a few remarks on the 
district, in anticipation of the proposed visit of 
the Society at Whitsuntide. Mr. Adkin, series 
of Abraxas grossulariaia, bred from Perthshire larve, 
including a noticeable var. with fore-wings having 
a broad white central band with a large circular 
black discoidal spot, and hind-wings also having a 
large discoidal spot. A paper, entitled ‘‘ Repre- 
sentative Species,’’ by Prof. A. Radcliffe Grote, A.M., 
was then read by Mr. Tutt. It showed, at some 
length, the identical and parallel species which 
existed in the two continents.—Hy. J. Turner, Hon. 
Report. Sec. 


City oF LonDoN ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 
History Society.—Tuesday, January 5th, 1897, 
the President in the chair. Mr. Rowland Brown 
was elected a member of the society. Exhibits: 
Mr. Oldham, eight dwarf Cosmia trapezina, taken in 
Epping Forest in 1895-96, in support of a theory 
that the species is getting small by degrees in the 
locality ; also Cosmia affinis and one dwarf Scofelo- 
soma satellitia from Woodford, and one Scotosia certata 
from Cambridgeshire. Mr. Burrows, a number of 
Acherontia atropos, including one from Rainham, in 
1893, which had the inner band distinctly paler 
on the left hind-wing. He also read some notes 
on his rearing. Mr. Riches, larve of Acidalia 
holosericata, from ova laid on October 12th, and 
hatched on November 13th. Mr. Sauzé, Rhinolophus 
liphosevidos (the lesser horse-shoe bat) from 
Johannisbrid, Bohemia. Mr. Nicholson read a 
paper, entitled ‘‘ Stars, Star Clusters, and Nebulz.” 
—February 2nd, Mr. F. J. Hanbury, Vice-President, 
in the chair. Dr. Dudley Wright, F.E.S., and Mr. 
H. E. Heasler were elected members of the Society. 
Exhibits: Mr. Bacot exhibited larve of Bombyx 
spartii and B.qguercus from ova laid by south French 
parents received from Mr. Warburg, and larve 
of English B. guercus received from Mr. Goymour ; 
also preserved larvz of Bombyx rubi, B. trifoliiand B. 
castrensis for comparison. He said that the 
difference between the B. spartii and French B. 
guercus was first apparent after the second moult, 
but was more marked after the third moult. It 
consisted of the different colour of the dorsal coat 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


of short hairs or fur. This in B. spartii was light 
red-brown, while in the B. quevcus it was white. 
The larve of the English B. quercus differed 
markedly from both the South of France forms 
in the fourth or fifth skins. They seemed to be 
quite a moult behind the French races in getting 
their adult skins. The head was dark-blue or 
blue-black, while in the French examples it was 
usually reddish-brown with a white marking on 
the face that was generally absent in the English 
form, although a few of these larve had a dirty 
white marking on the face, which, however, differed 
in shape from that on the French larve. The 
hairs were also much more scanty in the English 
form, and the long hairs, which in the French 
races were white, were brown in the English larve. 
The white sub-dorsal line and the remnants of the 
oblique stripes were also stronger in the English 
forms, and there were traces in some larve, strongly 
developed, of a blue line or band just above the sub- 
dorsal line; probably a remnant of the blue stripes 
that are well developed in B. tvifolii and B. neustria 
and slightly less so in B. castvensis. The English 
B. quercus Mr. Bacot took to be the older form, the 
French B. quercus, occasionally having faint traces 
of the blue, coming between it and B. spartii, which 
was more constant and tended to approach B. rubi 
in the loss of these markings. Mr. Warburg had 
also very kindly given Mr. Bacot a few larve, the 
result of a pairing between a male B. quercus 
(French) and a female B. sfartii. These larvee 
were now in about the fourth stage; four of them 
had the white B. quercus coat, six the red-coloured 
fur of B. spartii. Mr. Bacot also said that he had 
placed some larvee of Orgyia gonostigma, which had 
passed the usual hibernating stage, before the food- 
supply failed, in a cold room, to see if they would 
hibernate. They attempted to do, fastening them- 
selves in one position, which they occupied through 
October, November and most of December. But 
they subsequently died, being unable, apparently, 
to stand the winter’s cold, which had had no ill 
effects on larve hibernating in their normal stage. 
Mr. Dadd exhibited Catocala fraxini from Germany, 
C. nupta from Wood Green, C. sponsa and C. promissa 
from the New Forest, and C. pacta, C. luciana and 
C. concumbens from Dakota, U.S.A. Mr. Riches 
exhibited a specimen of Phrynsoma cornutus, on 
which he read the following notes: ‘This creature 
is a native of California, and is known as the horned 
toad ; it is quite harmless, and when captured does 
not attempt to kill or bite; and not having a pro- 
trusive tongue, like the chameleon, and being slow, 
it is only able to catch slow insects, such as the 
sand-beetles, upon which it feeds during the 
evening. In the daytime it lies passive on the 
sand. A reputed peculiarity of this lizard is its 
habit of ejecting jets of blood from its eyes, 
apparently as a means of defence.”—Lawrence J. 
Tremayne, Hon. Sec. 

Hutt ScrienTiIFIC AND FigLpD NATURALISTS’ 
Cius.—The usual fortnightly meeting was held on 
March 17th, Mr. Paul Davis in the chair. Mr. 
Knight referred to a recent botanical excursion he 
had made, and exhibited some of the specimens he 
had collected. He also handed round some fresh 
examples of that peculiar Alpine plant, Sedwm 
monstvosum. It was reported that a badger had 
recently been caught at Brandsburton—a very 
rare occurrence in the Hull district. Mr. F. W. 
Fierke, M.C.S., then proceeded to give his paper 
on ‘‘A Tour in Switzerland.’’ Mr. Fierke graphically 
described a journey taken by himself and another 
member of the Club, Mr. J. Burns, to the ‘‘ Lower 


343 


Alps,’ last summer. Extensive collections were 
made, principally of plants and entomological 
specimens; the ‘‘large black salamander,’”’ and 
a quantity of land-shells were also obtained. 
Mr. Fierke illustrated his remarks by a series of 
lantern-slides showing views of his collecting- 
grounds in Switzerland, and also of other places 
visited, A selection from the collection of plants, 
and also some butterflies, were handed round. 
The paper was followed by a lengthy discussion, in 
which several members took part.—The concluding 
meeting for the winter session was held on March 
31st. The President, Dr. Hollingworth, 
M.R.C.S., occupied the chair. Several reports 
were given of excursions made in the neighbourhood 
during the previous fortnight. The secretary 
exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Mosey, a small earthen- 
ware flask, or water-bottle, which had been 
dredged up from the bed of the Baltic Sea by a 
fishing-smack. The specimen was encrusted with 
barnacles, surpulz, and other marine organisms. 
A fine collection of butterflies, beetles, etc., sent 
over from South Africa by Mr. Russell, was 
handed round. Mr. F. W. Fierke, M.C.S., read 
an interesting report of an excursion he had made 
to Filey Brig on March zoth. On this date, the 
tides being unusually low, exceptional opportunities 
were given for investigation of the various interest- 
ing examples of marine life which abound on that 
part of our coast. The outing proved in every 
way Satisfactory, and several specimens were found 
which had not previously been recorded for that 


locality. Mr. Fierke handed round his most 
important captures. The Rev. C. A. Hall reada 
paper on ‘‘The Origin of Language.’ The 


lecturer explained that all conclusions as to the 
origin of language must necessarily be inferences 
from known facts as to the nature of man and 
those conditions of life which call his faculties into 
play. Writing is of comparatively recent inven- 
tion, and we can therefore only go back with 
precision in our analysis of words a few thousand 
years, and judge of many ages of slow progress 
by inference from such records as we have. The 
lecturer showed how the origin of writing started 
with rude depictions of objects from nature, and 
how these gradually evolved into alphabetic 
characters such as we see now used. Numerous 
examples of Chinese and Hebrew characters were 
given in explanation of this. The reverend gentle- 
man concluded by stating that the origin of language 
was due to a desire on the part of the primitive 
races to communicate with each other. In course 
of time it was found that the simplest and most 
effectual way of exchanging ideas was by uttering 
sounds and exclamations, and though these 
necessarily would be of a very primitive character, 
they only required time to evolve into the various 
languages that we find to-day, though in the 
lecturer’s opinion not one out of the 750 languages 
now existing is anything like perfect yet. It is 
difficult to say whether a really perfect language 
will ever exist. A lengthy discussion followed the 
lecture. At the close of the meeting, Mr. J. F. 
Robinson, a Vice-President of the Club, called 
attention to the fact that the past session had been 
the most successful in the history of the society. 
The lectures had been of a first-class character, 
most of the principal persons of the town interested 
in science being amongst the lecturers. The 
attendances had also been far better than those of 
previous years, and there is every prospect of 
future sessions being still more attractive —T. 
Sheppard, Hon. Sec., 78, Sherburn Street, Hull. 


344 


NOTICES OF SOCIETIES. 


THE GEOLOGISTS’ ASSOCIATION OF LONDON. 
Excursions and Conductors. 


May 1.—Cookham. Paddington Station, 1.40 p.m. LI. 
Treacher, F G.S. 

8.—Whole day. Southborough and Tunbridge Wells 
(Kent). G. Abbott, M.R.C.S. Charing Cross, 
9.22 train. 

15.—Chislehurst (Kent). W. Whitaker, F.R.S.,and T. 
V. Holmes, F.G.S. Charing Cross, 1.35 train. 

», 22.—Erith (Kent). Flaxman C. J. Spurrell, F.G.S. 

June 5 to8—Whitsuntide. Cheltenham (Gloucestershire). 
E. Wethered, F.G.S., and S. S. Buckman, F.G.S. 

19.—Whole day. Leighton (Bedfordshire). A. C. G. 
Cameron. 

26.—Merstham (Surrey). G. J. Hinde, Ph.D., F.R.S., 
and W. Whitaker, F.R.S. 

July 3—Woking. F. Meesom. 

to.—Whole day. Peterborough (Northamptonshire). 
A. N. Leeds, F.G.S., and A. S. Woodward, F.G.S. 

17.—Bishop’s Stortford (Herts.). Rev. Dr. Irving, 
F.G.S. 


26 to 31.—Long Excursion. Edinburgh. Prof. James 
Geikie, LL D., D.C.L., F.R.S.; J. G. Goodchild, 
F.G.S., and H. W. Monckton, F.G.S. 

For particulars of these excursions, apply to Horace W. 

Monckton, Esq., Secretary for Excursions, 10, King’s Bench 

Walk, Temple, E.C 


City oF LoNnpoN ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY 
SOcIETY. 


April 27—Exhibition. Ante page 312. 


THE SoutH Lonpon ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL 


History Society. 

May 13.—Paper: ‘‘ Autumnal Notes from Lake Erie.” Pro- 
fessor A. R. Grote, M.A. 

29.—Field Meeting at Chalfort Road. 

5-7-—Field Meeting: Ashdown Forest (Members 

intending to go please write to Secretary, Mr. H. 
J. Turner, 13. Drakefield Road, S.E.) 

July 3.—Reigate. 


June 


NortH Lonpon Natura History Socrety.— The following 
are amongst the fixtures for next session: 


May 13.—‘ My trip to Highcliffe, and what I found in the 
Barton Beds.” J. Burman Rosevear, M.C.S. 

15.—Whole-day Excursion to Brentwood. 

» 27-—‘‘ Dorsetshire Notes.” J. Wheeler, M.C.P. 
June 4-7.—Excursion to the New For:st. 
1o.—Debate: “Is Vivisection Justifiable?” 
19.—Half-day Excursion to the Lea Valley. 
» 24.—‘‘Clothes-Moths.” J. B. Casserley. 

There will also be a special-family discussion, entitled 
““The Liparidz,” to be opened by A. Bacot on some date 
not yet fixed.—Lawrvence J. Tremayne, Hon. Secretary. 


a 


” 


3: 


LAMBETH FIELD CLUB AND SCIENTIFIC SocIETY.—We have 
received the following list of fixtures for the forthcoming 
session : 

May 3.—‘‘Some of our Smaller Song-birds.’’ 

Harvey-Piper. 
8.—Outing to Sanderstead (with Selborne Scciety). 
22.—Visit to Kew Gardens. 
7.—Whit-Monday.—Outing to Cheshunt. 
19.—Outing to Caterham. H. Wilson, Hon. Sec., 
14, Melbourne Square, Brixton Road. 


BS Wi 


” 
June 


” 


Hutt ScIENTIFIC AND FIELD NATURALISTS’ CLUB. 
Excurstons. 


May 8.—Swine. Paragon Station 2.5 pm. Return fare rs. 
»; 13.—Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union at Skelmanthorpe. 
» 15.—Twigmoor Gullery. 

29.—Barton and South Ferriby. Boat from Corpora- 

tion Pier ati.40 p.m. Return fare ts. 

June 7.—Goole Moor. 

12.—Aldbro. 

26.—Pelham Woods. 


Meetings. 


April 28.—Discussion: ‘‘Is Colour an Accident in Nature?” 
Opened by Mr. G. Ross. 


” 


May 12.—‘ Spring Flowers.” Mr. J. F. Robinson. 
»  26.—‘‘Maps.” Mr. Paul Davis. 
June 9.—‘‘The Extinct Animals of Holderness.” Mr. T. 
Sheppard. 
» 23.—‘‘Crabs.” Mr. F. W. Fierke, M.C.S. 


For particulars, apply to Mr. T. Sheppard, Hon. Sec., 78, 
Sherburn Street, Hull. 


LEICESTER LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 


May 26.—‘‘Parthenogenesis as it affects Insects.” F. 
Bouskell, F.E.S. 
June 5 to9.—Excursion. 
» 23.—* Notes on Arancid@ (Spiders) of Leicestershire.” 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


NotTtTINGHAM NATURAL ScIENCE RAMBLING CLUB 
Geological Section.—Leader, Mr. J. Shipman, F.G.S. 
May 1.—Lenton and Radford. Meet at Water Fountain, 


2.40 p.m. 
ss 29.—Trowell, Strelley, Kimberley, etc. Meet Midland 
Station, 2.30. p.m. 
June 26.—Drive to East Leake. 
lege, 2.30 p m. 
and tea, 2s. 6d. 
July 10.—Trowell, Stony Cloud and Sandiacre. 
Midland Station, 2.30 p.m. 
pen Excursion. Lincoln. Fare (special train), 
Is. 6d. 
Sept. 11.—Hucknall Torkard and Long Hills. Meet Midland 
Station, 1.30 p. m. 


Botanical Section.—Leader, Mr. W. Staftord. 


May 15.—Hucknali Torkard. Meet Midland Station, 3 p.m. 
Fare, 1s. ; tea, gd. 

June 19.—Lambley Dumbles. Meet G.N.R. Station, 2.40 

July 24.—Red Hilland Bestwood. Meet opposite Mechanics’ 
Hall, 2 30 p.m. 

Aug. 14.—Nottingham Arboretum. 
Entrance, 2.30 p.m. 

Sep. 18.—Radcliffe and environs. 


Meet front University Col- 
Fare, including drive, 24 miles, 


Meet 


Aug. 


Meet Waverley Street 
Meet G.N.R. Station, 1.45 


p.m. 
Oct. 16.—Annual Meeting, Rambling Club, Natural Science 
Laboratory, University College, Nottingham, 4 
p-m. Tea, soirée and exhibition of collections 
mnade during season. W. Bickerton, Hon. Sec., 
187, Noel Street, Nottingham. 


NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 


To CorRESPONDENTS AND EXCHANGERS.—SCIENCE-GOSSIP 
is published on the 25th of each month. All notes or other 
communications should reach us not later than the 18th of 
the month for insertion in the following number. No com- 
munications can be inserted or noticed without full name 
and address of writer. Notices of changes of address 
admitted free. 

Notice.—Contributors are requested to strictly observe the 
following rules. All contributions must be clearly written 
on one side of the paper only. Words intended to be 
printed in italics should be marked under with a single line. 
Generic names must be given in full, excepting where used 
immediately before. Capitals may only be used for generic, 
and not specific names Scientific names and names of 
places to be written in round hand 

Tue Editor is not responsible for unused MSS., neither 
can he undertake to return them, unless accompanied with 
stamps for return postage. 

SuBSCRIPTIONS.—Subscriptions to ScrENcE-GossIpP, at the 
rate of 6s. 6d. for twelve months (including postage), should 
be remitted to the Proprietors, 86, St. Martin’s Lane, 
London, W.C. 

Tue Editor will be pleased to answer questions and name 
specimens through the Correspondence column of the maga- 
zine. Specimeus,in good condition, of not more than three 
species to be sent at one time, carriage paid. Duplicates 
only to be sent, which will not be returned. The specimens 
must have identifying numbers attached, together with 
locality, date and particulars of capture. 

ALL editorial communications, books or instruments for 
review, specimens for identification, etc., to be addressed to 
Joun T. CarrineGTon, 1, Northumberland Avenue, London, 
W.-C. 

EXCHANGES. 

Notice.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including 
name and address) admitted free, but additional words must 
be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words 


or less. 

OFFERED, several years’ ScieNce-GossiP, minerals, fossils, 
British and foreign shells, polished Devonian specimens, 
slides, curios; return exchanges numerous.—A. J. R. Sclater, 
Natural History Store, Teignmouth. : 

Fine photo-micrographs, diatoms, spicules. sections, etc. ; 
exchange for good micro-slides, unmounted objects, desmids, 
etc.—G. E. Carter, 4. Victoria Terrace, Dartmouth. 

A FEw examples of Petricola pholadiformis, Lamk., from 
Herne Bay; desiderata, other rare British shells—A. S. 
Kennard, Benenden, Mackenzie Road, Beckenham. 

FoREIGN marine shells or dried New Zealand terns 
exchanged for marine shells, Australian Chitons (preserved 
in formalin) for foreign Chitons, dried or in spirit—L. 
Shackleford, 14, Edna Street, Crumpsall, Manchester. 

WanTED, live box or turntable in exchange for slides; will 
send list upon receipt of description of either of above.—A. 
Nicholson, 5, Danesbury Terrace, Darlington. 


’ 


WanTED, during the season, Sinapis, larve of Crategi and» 


pupz of Rhamni. Exchange Fuliginosa, Trifolii, Silago, 
Chi with dark variety, etc. ; exchange lists desired —J. Nichol- 
son, 65, Hartington Street, Newcastle. 


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G. TINLING & CO., 
Wookbinders, Printers, | 
and Stationers, | 
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